Rory McIlroy believes his recent lesson with Tiger Woods’ former coach Butch Harmon was “really worthwhile” as he prepares to make his 10th attempt to complete a career grand slam at the Masters.
The world number two started the year well with victory in the Dubai Desert Classic in January, but his form on the PGA Tour has been underwhelming ahead of this week’s Valero Texas Open. McIlroy revealed that he had recently visited Harmon in Las Vegas to get a “second opinion” on his game, particularly his struggles with his irons.
“I’ve done this a number of times in my career,” McIlroy said. “I met Butch when I was 14 years old, so we’ve always had a good relationship. If there’s one guy that I want to go and get a second opinion from, it’s him.”
McIlroy needs to win the Masters to join an elite group
McIlroy needs to win the Masters to join an elite group of players to have won all four major championships. He has been chasing the career grand slam since 2015, and this year’s edition of the tournament at Augusta National will be his 10th attempt to complete the feat.
“The one thing with Butch is you go spend time with him and you’re always going to feel better about yourself at the end of it whether you’re hitting it better or not,” McIlroy explained. “He’s sort of half golf coach, half psychologist in a way. It’s fun to go out there, I went and spent probably four hours with him in Vegas. He said a couple of things to me that resonated.”
Despite his recent struggles, McIlroy believes the rest of his game is in “great shape,” with his woods specifically feeling amazing. He is hopeful that the work he has done with Harmon will help him find the key to his irons and put him in contention at the Masters.
“It’s the same stuff that I’ve been trying to do with my coach Michael (Bannon), but he sort of just said it in a different way that maybe hit home with me a little bit more,” McIlroy said. “It was a really worthwhile trip and I feel like I’ve done some good work after that. As I said, this is a good week to see where that work has gotten me.”
