Rory McIlroy revealed he will skip the Par 3 Contest on the eve of next week’s Masters at Augusta to focus on his goal of winning the year’s first major.
“I’m not going to play the Par 3 Contest this year as it’s just too much hassle and a bit of a distraction,” said the Northern Irishman.
The four-time major winner will be making his eighth straight appearance in the Masters and only once has he not played the Par 3 Contest at Augusta National.
That was five years ago in 2011 when he went into the final round of his then third Masters leading by four shots before the horrible meltdown of recording an 80 to tumble to a share of 15th place behind South African Charl Schwartzel.
“The year I had my best chance at Augusta, and that was in 2011 when I didn’t play the Par 3 Contest, so maybe the decision not to play it this year can work in my favour,” explained McIlroy.
A year ago, McIlroy recorded his best Augusta finish of fourth behind Jordan Spieth.
However in the past two years there has been more than the normal media interest in McIlroy’s choice for his Par 3 Contest caddy.
In 2014, then fiancee and tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki was on the bag, while last year, it was One Direction’s Niall Horan who carried McIlroy’s clubs.
McIlroy spoke openly of his emotions following his WGC-Dell Match Play semi-final defeat to Jason Day last week.
And then, after losing the third place shoot-out to Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello it was clear McIlroy could not leave the Austin Country Club course quick enough.
Long-time coach Michael Bannon has arrived from Belfast to Palm Beach Gardens and will spend the week with McIlroy honing the game of the current world No3.
And while McIlroy heads to Augusta not having tasted success on the PGA Tour this year, he was upbeat about his chances at the Masters, where a win will complete his career grand slam.
“I was just so flat out there in my match with Rafa and I was hardly holing a putt, and really just wanted to get out of the place,” he said.
“So, I will get into Augusta on Sunday night and play Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
“As for my game, I do feel as though I am similar to where I was with my game last year as I am very happy with my game.
“And I guess you can see it as a sign of my confidence that I am not going to Augusta early as the course changes so much just from Wednesday to Thursday.
“So compared to a year ago and all the hype of winning the Grand Slam, I already feel a little more mellow and a lot more chilled.
“This year you have the attention spread between Jordon (Spieth) going back to defend and Jason (Day) winning for a second week in a row and also there’s Adam (Scott) who has won at Augusta before and is coming off his back-to-back wins.
“So there’s a lot more going on around others competing in the Masters this year already than last year when the whole spotlight seemed to be on me.”