Butch Harmon: Rory should relax and play golf if he is to win The Masters

Rory McIlroy should “relax and play golf” if he is to complete the career Grand Slam at this week’s Masters Tournament says legendary coach Butch Harmon.

This week marks the 16th attempt for the Northern Irishman to win an iconic Green Jacket and his tenth try to complete the Grand Slam by winning all four Major Championships.

It seems like a lifetime ago now that the two-time DP World Tour Championship winner lifted Major silverware, with his last victory coming at the 2014 PGA Championship.

Since then, he has posted seven top ten finishes at Augusta National, including a runner-up finish at the 2022 edition when he finished three strokes behind current World No.1 Scottie Scheffler.

In a bid to get a competitive edge ahead of this year’s edition, the 34-year-old paid Harmon a visit last month, something he has done multiple times during his career, for a lesson from the man who was behind Tiger Woods’ and Phil Mickelson’s Masters victories.

"There is no doubt about it," Harmon told the media of The Masters.

"You can always say he has got to be one of the favourites going in there. His game is built for there with his ability to drive the ball.

"He has just got to relax and play golf, which is very easy to say but he wants it so bad. We want it for him. The press wants it for him. The fans want it for him. His family wants it for him and that gets in the way of allowing you to be yourself.

"I think if he can just go and be Rory McIlroy, he is going to have a great time and have a great chance on the back nine on Sunday, which is all you can live for. His game, other than the way I thought he was hitting his short iron shots, was pretty good."

McIlroy has struggled with his game since winning the Dubai Desert Classic for a record-breaking fourth time in January, only finishing inside the top ten once in six starts on the PGA Tour.

Approach play was a particular area Harmon and McIlroy worked on in Las Vegas last month, with the latter also describing Harmon as "half golf coach, half psychologist".

"At TPC Sawgrass [The Players] he made 26 birdies and finished like 20th," said Harmon.

"For his bogeys, he was missing greens with nine-irons and wedges, so that was some of the work we did.

"We were trying to get his swing from what I would call 150 yards in, which is where he plays most holes from, and control the distance of the ball and the shape of the shot. We worked hard on that.

"There were a couple of little, minor fixes to his swing that unless I showed you the film, you probably wouldn't even recognise them. He was very happy, took it away, and said he played really well when he was at Augusta [practice round].

"It will be interesting to see how it goes but, I think mindset wise, his head is in the right place and the right space. I think he has much more confidence now in what he is doing, so we will just have to see.

"If he can just relax and play golf, then he gives himself a chance. If he gives himself a chance, he is hard to beat."

The Masters Tournament gets underway on Thursday.