Wednesday 23 March 2016 19:51, UK
Rory McIlroy is determined to head to Augusta with winning momentum as he prepares to defend his WGC-Dell Match Play title in Texas this week.
McIlroy has yet to register a victory on the PGA Tour since winning the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks after beating Gary Woodland in the final of the Match Play in San Francisco last May, while Masters champions Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson have all collected titles since the turn of the year.
The world No 3 blew a four-shot lead in the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship when a disappointing 74 left him two adrift of Scott, and two erratic 75s at Bay Hill last week took him out of contention for the Arnold Palmer Invitational title.
But McIlroy did sign off with a superb 65 in Orlando and he is looking forward to what he hopes will be a long week of golf at the Austin Country Club and an overdue victory to take into the first major of the season.
"It is important. I've been saying all along since the start of the year, I'd love to win before Augusta and this is my last chance to do that," said McIlroy, who slipped back to third in the world rankings on Monday following Jason Day's win at Bay Hill.
"Seeing the guys that have won, with Bubba in LA, Adam in those two starts in Florida, Charl in Tampa and Jason last week, everyone is running in good form. And they're all good champions, a few of them are Masters champions.
"Everyone is playing well, and that's really what you want to do. You want your game rounding into form and playing to the best of your abilities this time of year. I'm probably not quite where they are, and I haven't had the confidence of getting a win this year, but I feel like it's close.
"This would obviously be a great week to get that win or at least get close to that win, if I can get a few really good matches under my belt and progress to the weekend and play some good golf, I feel that's all I need confidence-wise going into Augusta."
Spieth has also been struggling for consistency in the early part of the year, but McIlroy leapt to the defence of the world No 1 and insisted he will be ready for the defence of his Masters crown next month.
He added: "I've been in that position. Just because he hasn't won in five events or six events, he's 22 years old, he's a double major champion and he has more money than he's ever going to need. I think he's going to be okay.
"You have to take into account that this is still new for him, being a major champion. Traveling so much at the end of the year, going to Australia, going to the Bahamas, going to Singapore, going to Abu Dhabi, that has to take its toll. It's good that he's learned from that already.
"At the age of 22, he's got so much experience and he's going to learn very quickly what works for him and what doesn't. But Jordan Spieth will be just fine, I can tell you that."
McIlroy has been drawn to face Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen and Smylie Kaufman in the group stage of the Match Play this week, and he hopes to adopt the same positive approach that served him well last year.
"It's always good to come back to a tournament where you've won and had success before," he added. "This tournament has gone through a few different venues, but it doesn't change the fact that it is match play, and you have to beat the person that's there in front of you.
"I feel like that's been the best approach for me in match play. The golf course is almost irrelevant, in a way. It's about playing the player that's in front of you. It's a sprint, it's 18 holes, and you don't really have time to find your rhythm - you need to try to make birdies from the get-go.
"That's the approach I've adopted the last few years, and I feel like my match play record for the most part speaks for itself. I've had a pretty good record since I've turned pro in this tournament and in the Ryder Cup as well. So I'm looking forward to the week and I'm excited to get going."
