Rory McIlroy hopes Harmon’s magic touch guides him to green jacket

Augusta: Rory McIlroy is hoping that his recent session with legendary golf coach Butch Harmon will help him complete the career grand slam with victory in this week’s Masters.

The Northern Irishman recently spent time with Harmon, best known as Tiger Woods’s coach in his heyday, as part of his preparation for Augusta.

On Tuesday, after arriving at the course, McIlroy said that his work with the 80-year-old Harmon, who also coached Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els among others, was not a one-off.

“It’s regular. We probably text on a daily basis. But I think that, if anyone that has been to see Butch over the years, the first thing he’ll do is he’ll bring you into his office. We sat and had a 45-minute conversation before he even looked at a swing or even before we really talked about golf at all. Talked about a lot of other stuff,” McIlroy told a news conference.

“He’s part sort of psychologist, part swing coach. Like I always joke about you spend four hours with Butch and you go away with two swing tips and 30 stories. But you always go away hitting the ball better than when you came.”

Beneficial trip

McIlroy finished third at the PGA Tour’s Texas Open on Sunday and although he was nine shots off the lead, he indicated the performance had shown signs of the Harmon influence.

“It was a really beneficial trip for the technical side of things, which I think I made progress in that department last week, especially with my strokes gained approach numbers, which is what I really wanted to do,” he said.

“It’s also just spending time around someone like that that has coached a lot of the best players in the world and sort of him giving you his blessing on things, I think that’s nice validation as well.”

Harmon has indicated that he focused most of his advice on McIlroy’s short iron shots, but says he has all the components needed to win.

“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,” Harmon said this week.

Those words hint at some of the difficulties McIlroy has faced in tackling Augusta.

A four-times major winner, McIlroy has had some tough moments at Augusta, none more so than in 2011 where the then 21-year-old led at the turn on the final round but suffered a dramatic collapse on the back nine leaving him 15th after an eight-over par 80.

McIlroy has been close - he has six top-10s at Augusta National in the last 10 years including a runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler in 2022.

He has missed the cut in two of the last three Masters but his watchword this year is patience and he outlined the mindset he believes will help him avoid any calamity.

“I would say not trying to win it from the first tee shot. I think that’s something that I’ve tried to learn,” McIlroy said. “It’s a 72-hole golf tournament. I’ve won from 10 strokes back going into the weekend. There’s loads of different ways to do it.

“This golf course gets you to chase things a little more than other golf courses, if you make a bogey or if you get yourself out of position, because it always tempts you to do something you think you can do.

“I’m pretty confident in my golf game. I think I can do most things, but sometimes you just have to take the conservative route and be a little more disciplined and patient.

“That’s something that I’ve really tried to learn at this tournament over the years.”

Arriving relatively late, on the Tuesday, is part of McIlroy’s attempt to make this tournament, despite it’s unique pressures, something close to business as usual.

“I play 25 weeks a year, and there’s no point in doing anything different this week compared to other weeks,” he said.

“I feel like I’ve already got most of my prep work done. So it’s just about going out there and being relaxed and being in the right frame of mind. And the more I can do that, the more I’ll be able to execute on the golf course.