Rory McIlroy has revealed a number of changes have been made to Augusta National after taking a trip to the iconic Georgia track ahead of next month’s Masters.
McIlroy is aiming to win the green jacket for the first time and finally complete his career Grand Slam. The Northern Irishman’s hunt for a fifth major title has been well documented, with his last flagship win coming 11 years ago, clinching the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
To ensure he’s fully prepared come the opening round in Georgia next month, the world No. 2 has already visited Augusta for a practice round ahead of his comeback at the Texas Children’s Houston Open on Thursday.
Whilst at the PGA Tour event this week, McIlroy explained the purpose of his visit and shared insights into the changes made to Augusta. “I use those trips just to refamiliarise myself with the place, clubs off tees, looking to see if they changed any greens,” he said in Houston.
“There’s four greens that are new this year that they’ve redone. You just sort of, you have a look at those and see if there’s any new hole positions they give you, stuff like that. Apart from that, honestly for me, it’s nice to play a practice round without people around, and it sort of takes the pressure off the start of the week for me.
“There’s a lot of obligations, there’s big commitments whether it be from the media or the par three tournament on Wednesday. I just like to get up there and feel like I’m not rushed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday the week of the tournament, and that’s usually the reason I go there.”
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The famous Georgia course has undergone changes following damage caused by Hurricane Helene to the area last October. Most notably, McIlroy pointed out that work has been done on the par-three 16th. “The loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable,” he added.
“In terms of they’ve had to redo that green, but it’s exactly the same as what it was. The hole will play – apart from maybe a few less shadows on the green late in the day because of a couple of trees that were lost, but apart from that, it’s pretty much the same.”
McIlroy is a man in form in 2025, having already banked two victories in the United States. His first win came at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, which he followed up by clinching The Players Championship title for the second time via a Monday playoff earlier this month.
“[I’m] excited to just sort of just keep going, you know,” he said of his form upon a long-awaited return to Houston. “It’s been a great start to the season for me, and I want to continue that.” McIlroy will kick off his week in Thursday’s opening round alongside Maverick McNealy and Wyndham Clark.
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