Wednesday 6 April 2016 11:33, UK
Rory McIlroy admits a positive start will be imperative to his chances of winning a maiden Masters title at Augusta National.
Twelve months ago, the Northern Irishman found himself 12 shots off the pace after 36 holes before fighting back over the weekend to finish fourth.
No one played the final 36 holes in fewer strokes than McIlroy, but his mediocre start meant there was too big a mountain to climb on Saturday and Sunday, as closing rounds of 68 and 66 left him six shots adrift off winner Jordan Spieth.
"Jordan had it won after 36 holes last year," said McIlroy. "I think it's imperative to get off to a great start here, a good start. You look at a lot of Masters' champions in the past, they have been right up there from the first day.
"I think it's important to get a good 36 holes under your belt. That gives you confidence going into the weekend, as well.
"That's been the thing that's held me back the last couple of years, and I try to change that. You know, I feel like last year, I didn't do much wrong, really.
"I played well. I finished 12‑under par for the tournament. I stuck to my game plan for the most part but I was three‑over after 27 holes and that's not going to get it done.
"I played the next, whatever, 45 holes very, very well. I think part of that was having so much expectation and thinking of the Grand Slam and thinking of the Masters and thinking of all this.
"What I needed was to just take a step back and relax and go out and try and play my own game.
"I feel like the first 27 holes last year really cost me the tournament. So I knew as soon as this tournament finished last year that I was going to prepare maybe a little bit differently for it this year.
"I made the decision not to come up early this time. The course doesn't change year‑to‑year unless there's a couple of subtle things they do with some of the green complexes.
"The course that we saw last year, it's pretty much the same that we're seeing this year."
McIlroy believes it can be detrimental to possess too much knowledge about Augusta, claiming it can make put you in too much of a negative mindset ahead of the tournament.
The first 27 holes last year really cost me the tournament.
"Coming back year after year, you do start to pick up on a lot and learn a lot more," he added. "So, hopefully, this is my eighth Masters, and I feel like I've learnt quite a lot over the previous seven, and hopefully I can use all that knowledge and experience to my advantage this week.
"You're trying to gain all this knowledge in a very short amount of time, and you're maybe asking questions to some people. You're trying to arrange practice rounds with experienced guys.
"But for me, so much information taken on board isn't necessarily a good thing. And all of a sudden you start thinking about all the places that you're not supposed to hit it, instead of the place that you are.
"So yeah, I guess I felt like the first couple years I was here, there was a sense of tentativeness in the way I was playing.
"But year after year, I've started to realise that this is probably one of the courses where you can be super‑aggressive and take it at the pins, because these greens are big greens.
"You have to be aggressive in some shots but others you know par is a good score and you move on. I feel like I've learnt the balance of this course over the years."
