“I’d rather not talk about it,” seems to be the sentiment Rory McIlroy echoed by refusing to speak to reporters after a disastrous close to his first round at the Masters. McIlroy had started strong, reaching 4 under par through 14 holes, but a stretch of two double bogeys in three holes dropped him back to even par, seven shots behind leader Justin Rose. By the end of the round, McIlroy had fallen to 27th place, a far cry from the contention he was expected to be in. Well, McIlroy has revealed the reason for his outburst and it’s far from anything anyone could’ve predicted.
Speaking at the latest Masters presser, Rory McIlroy discussed his approach to resetting after a tough round. “Yeah, you know, I sort of just tried to leave — once I left the property last night, I just sort of tried to leave what had happened here,” he said, explaining how he rushed home to spend time with his daughter Poppy before she went to bed. “You know, I rushed out of here to get home to see Poppy before she went to bed. So that was sort of nice to get to see her before she went to sleep.” This experience, McIlroy noted, is something he didn’t have a few years ago, and it helped him take his mind off the golf.
McIlroy credited a conversation with sports psychologist Bob Rotella for helping him approach the next round with patience. “I had a good conversation with Bob Rotella this morning, mostly around not pushing too hard too early and trying to get those shots back straightaway,” he said. McIlroy’s patience paid off on the front nine, where he carded eight pars and a birdie. “I just tried to stay really, really patient. I feel like that patience was rewarded with a nice little stretch there in the middle of the round.”
February 2, 2025, Pebble Beach, Ca, USA: Rory McIlroy is seen on the tee at hole 17 just before winning the Pro-Am on the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2025 at Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 02, 2025 in Pebble Beach, California. Photo: Casey Flanigan/imageSPACE Pebble Beach USA – ZUMAi237 20250202_zsa_i237_119 Copyright: xFlanigan/Imagespacex
This is a developing story…
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