Rory McIlroy won’t complete the grand slam in 2024 at The 88th Masters Tournament. Insteadl, he will now look to Hilton Head and next week’s RBC Heritage event.
McIlroy bounced back nicely Saturday at Augusta National, carding a 1-under 71.
Despite the decent round at Augusta National, he is ready for next week.
“[I want to] go out and finish on a positive note. Shoot a good round of golf and move on to Hilton Head next week in a good frame of mind,” McIlroy said. “I’m like 50th in the FedEx Cup. I need to get all the events under my belt as I can.”
The 4-time major winner moved to 3-over for the tournament. At the time of publishing, McIlroy is tied for 25th.
He started a little rocky, but his round got better as the day progressed. McIlroy made a bogey to start but birdied the second hole. The 34-year-old dropped another shot at six.
After that second bogey, the Northern Irishman would not drop another shot though. He added two more birdies to his scorecard and made a lot of pars.
Rory McIlroy just absolutely hammered his tee shot through the crosswalk on the 9th.
And the craziest part is… he lost 40-50 yards! His ball rolled back down the hill!
Almost hit a patron, too! Crazy!#TheMasters pic.twitter.com/doVM69BXdX
— Playing Through (@_PlayingThrough) April 13, 2024
It was a round under par, and with the wind like it is, being in red numbers is an achievement.
“Definitely hit the ball better today, gave myself a lot of looks,” he said. “Missed a few, but shooting something under par was a decent effort. It was hard to get any momentum yesterday just because of the conditions. So, yeah, it was nice to see — I think I made three birdies today compared to zero yesterday. So nice to see some red numbers on the card.”
McIlroy is working on his swing. He and Scottie Scheffler were the last two on the range after Friday’s round.
Following The Players Championship, McIlroy visited Butch Harmon for a tune-up lesson. He then played last week at the Valero Texas Open as he prepped for Augusta National.
The 24-time PGA Tour winner remained positive even though the week did not result in his fifth major.
“All I can do is come here and try my best. Some years, it’s better than others,” McIlroy said. “I’ve got to keep showing up and try to do the right thing. I made good progress last week in San Antonio. My strokes gained numbers and approach were good. My strokes gained approach numbers today were probably pretty good. It’s better than what it was through the Florida swing.”
McIlroy will not win the first major championship of the year, but with another solid round on Sunday, he could finish in the top 20.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
