Rory McIlroy at The Masters: Butch Harmon on form, Vegas visit and Grand Slam hopes at Augusta National | Golf News

Butch Harmon has urged Rory McIlroy to “calm down and play golf” if he’s to finish his main drought and full the profession Grand Slam at The Masters.

McIlroy is and not using a main victory since his 2014 PGA Championship success and arrives at Augusta Nationwide having made a gradual begin to the PGA Tour season, failing to complete increased than nineteenth in his first 5 begins this 12 months.

The Northern Irishman revealed he made a visit to Las Vegas final month for a four-hour lesson with Harmon, one thing he has performed a number of occasions throughout his profession, with McIlroy describing Tiger Woods’ former coach as a “half golf coach, half psychologist“.

McIlroy has six top-10s at Augusta Nationwide over the previous decade, together with a runner-up end to Scottie Scheffler in 2022, with Harmon assured he can problem for the Inexperienced Jacket this week.

“There isn’t any doubt about it,” Harmon instructed the media of The Masters. “You’ll be able to at all times say he has received to be one of many favourites stepping into there. His sport is constructed for there along with his means to drive the ball.

“He has simply received to calm down and play golf, which may be very straightforward to say however he desires it so unhealthy. We wish it for him. The press desires it for him. The followers need it for him. His household desires it for him and that will get in the way in which of permitting you to be your self.

“I believe if he can simply go and be Rory McIlroy, he’s going to have a good time and have an incredible likelihood on the again 9 on Sunday, which is all you may dwell for. His sport, apart from the way in which I assumed he was hitting his brief iron pictures, was fairly good.”

The Masters – Dwell

Wednesday tenth April 7:30pm

McIlroy received on the DP World Tour earlier this 12 months with a profitable title defence on the Hero Dubai Desert Traditional however has struggled for consistency on the PGA Tour, with strategy play a specific space the place Harmon seemed to make enhancements.

“At TPC Sawgrass [The Players] he made 26 birdies and completed like twentieth,” Harmon defined. “For his bogeys, he was lacking greens with nine-irons and wedges, in order that was a number of the work we did.

“We have been making an attempt to get his swing from what I might name 150 yards in, which is the place he performs most holes from, and management the gap of the ball and the form of the shot. We labored exhausting on that.

“There have been a few little, minor fixes to his swing that until I confirmed you the movie, you most likely would not even recognise them. He was very completely satisfied, took it away, and stated he performed rather well when he was at Augusta [practice round].

“It will likely be attention-grabbing to see the way it goes however, I believe mindset clever, his head is in the proper place and the proper house. I believe he has far more confidence now in what he’s doing, so we are going to simply need to see.

The Masters – Dwell

Thursday eleventh April 2:00pm

“If he can simply calm down and play golf, then he offers himself an opportunity. If he offers himself an opportunity, he’s exhausting to beat.”

Scheffler beneath stress at Augusta?

World No 1 Scheffler arrives because the overwhelming favorite to win The Masters for the second time in three years, having received eight occasions in 26 months as a part of a dominant stretch on the PGA Tour.

Scheffler received the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Gamers final month forward of a runner-up end on the Texas Youngsters’s Houston Open, with Harmon backing the American to deal with the stress of coming into the opening main of the 12 months as the person to beat.

“I believe when all of the media consideration and expectations are in your shoulders, it’s much more stress,” Harmon added. “A variety of guys who received to No 1 on this planet did not keep there very lengthy; they could not deal with that stress – it is extra the off-course stress than the on-course stress.

“It is the media stuff, the additional stuff it’s important to do, the calls for in your time that you simply’re not accustomed to. Scottie’s a really good younger man who has an incredible household, so I believe he has the manner that may deal with it, however it should be attention-grabbing to see how he handles it coming in right here.

“He is by no means come into The Masters with all of this anticipation on his shoulders because the No 1 participant on this planet, the most popular participant on this planet. How he handles it, I believe we are going to see immediately on Thursday with what sort of begin he will get off to.

“Is he the Scottie Scheffler that we have seen, the nice ball striker that he is been? We’ll get to see all these things on Thursday, after which that’ll give us just a little understanding of his manner and the way his nervous system is dealing with the off-course stuff.

“You have a look at Rory McIlroy when he was sort of the mouthpiece of the PGA Tour, his sport sort of suffered as a result of he was at all times in conferences, he was at all times having to speak about it, and I used to be completely satisfied when he stepped away from that so he may simply return to engaged on his sport.

“I believe Scheffler has a really calming manner in his life and the way in which he lives his life, and I believe that is going to be an incredible asset for him. I am very excited to see myself coming into The Masters as the person that everyone thinks they need to beat and the way he handles that.”

When is The Masters on Sky Sports activities?

Wall-to-wall protection from the event begins at 2pm over the primary two rounds on Thursday April 11 and Friday April 12, with Featured Group motion and common updates from across the course accessible to take pleasure in on Sky Sports activities Golf till the worldwide broadcast window begins at 8pm.

The Masters – Dwell

Thursday eleventh April 7:30pm

There shall be numerous additional motion all through all 4 days through the purple button on Sky Sports activities Golf, together with Sky Q and Sky Glass, offering loads of bonus feeds and permitting you to observe gamers’ progress via numerous elements of Augusta’s well-known format.

Sky Sports activities Golf will present prolonged build-up content material over the weekend and occasional dwell updates from the course earlier than the worldwide broadcast window begins at 8pm for the third spherical and 7pm for the ultimate day, with early motion accessible all through through the purple button.

Who will win The Masters? Watch dwell from April 11-14 solely on Sky Sports activities. Dwell protection begins with Featured Teams on Thursday April 11 from 2pm on Sky Sports activities Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, majors and more with NOW.

Stream Sky Sports activities dwell with no contract on a Month or Day membership on NOW. On the spot entry to dwell motion from the Premier League, EFL, F1, Golf, England Cricket and a lot extra.