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There are two schools of thought for players about approaching a major championship like the Masters Tournament.
Some say they try to look at it as just another tournament in an effort to temper the pressure.
Others accept it for what it is – one of only four majors each year, the events that create legacies – and embrace the experience.
Count Michael Kim, who is making his second Masters start, as a student of the latter school.
“I think you're not fooling anyone trying to tell yourself or anyone that it's not that big of a deal out here,” Kim said. “It's one of the biggest tournaments in golf, if not the biggest, so you can tell yourself that, but in my opinion it's, you can't fool anyone.
“Yeah, every kid has dreamed of playing here for ever since they picked up a golf club, so it's an incredible honor and opportunity to be out here playing the tournament,” Kim added. “That first time you drive down Magnolia Lane just never gets old.”
Or, as Bryson DeChambeau said on Tuesday, winning the Masters would be “a lifelong dream come true.”
Rory McIlroy seems to have a foot in both camps.
On one hand, in regard to the fact this is his 11th attempt to complete the career Grand Slam with a Masters victory, he said “it’s just narratives. It's noise. It's just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year. Look, I understand the narrative and the noise, and there's a lot of anticipation and buildup coming into this tournament.”
If it was just “another tournament,” players wouldn’t adjust their schedules like they do in an effort to peak for this week. All the top PGA Tour pros teed it up in the Players Championship, which ended March 16. That left three tournaments before the Masters – Tampa, Houston and San Antonio.
“You've got a decision to make,” said McIlroy, who won the Players Championship. “If this week wasn't the week that it was, I'd probably take those three weeks off, but I knew that I needed to at least have one more competitive week leading in here. I opted for Houston rather than San Antonio just to change it up, more than anything else, bit of a change of scenery.”
The dozen players from LIV Golf in the Masters had no such decision to make. They are contractually obligated to play in all 14 of their tour’s events. That means all of them played last week at Doral.
Another way the Masters is not just one of 39 stops on the PGA Tour can be seen by the preparation players put into it. Most of the big names make at least one scouting trip to Augusta National in the weeks before the Masters. McIlroy made two separate trips this year.
“I think because it's a golf course we go back to every year, maybe there's a little more knowledge that's needed for certain shots, and definitely you're going to face particular shots on this golf course that you don't really face any other week of the year,” McIlroy said. “So coming up here a couple of times, doing a little bit more preparation on some of those shots on the golf course I think is important.”
Jon Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion, is also a fan of early visits to Augusta National. Not just to get a feel for the course and check out any changes made, but the fun of it.
“This is my ninth appearance,” he said. “Out of those nine, seven I came early to practice, this being the second time that I haven't come early, and the other time was '23 where I ended up winning. It doesn't really say much, I would say. But I've enjoyed coming for a few days with a good friend of mine, a member, and just get to play the golf course a little bit.
“I think a lot of it in my mind is if they made any changes to the golf course, they usually are minimal,” Rahm said. “But there's a few years when they changed No. 5 (adding 40 yards in 2019) I think a lot of people wanted to come early to see it. There's always subtle changes on the greens that you can't tell on TV that we can. You can see in person. If you're not on the green, you can't tell. There's little changes like that. But sometimes a lot of people want to come early to adjust to it, but I think it all depends on the flow and the schedule.”
As for McIlroy, one thing that doesn’t change from tournament to tournament is the way he prepares once he arrives. The Masters is no different.
“Once we get into the tournament week like now, you try to treat it the same and you just try to go through ― basically check the boxes,” he said. “I want to do certain things and I want to do my drills on the putting green and make sure I get my range sessions in just so that I've checked the boxes and feel as comfortable as I can going out there on Thursday morning.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Masters 2025 contenders open up on how they plan ahead to handle pressure
Continue reading...
Some say they try to look at it as just another tournament in an effort to temper the pressure.
Others accept it for what it is – one of only four majors each year, the events that create legacies – and embrace the experience.
Count Michael Kim, who is making his second Masters start, as a student of the latter school.
“I think you're not fooling anyone trying to tell yourself or anyone that it's not that big of a deal out here,” Kim said. “It's one of the biggest tournaments in golf, if not the biggest, so you can tell yourself that, but in my opinion it's, you can't fool anyone.
“Yeah, every kid has dreamed of playing here for ever since they picked up a golf club, so it's an incredible honor and opportunity to be out here playing the tournament,” Kim added. “That first time you drive down Magnolia Lane just never gets old.”
Or, as Bryson DeChambeau said on Tuesday, winning the Masters would be “a lifelong dream come true.”
Rory McIlroy seems to have a foot in both camps.
On one hand, in regard to the fact this is his 11th attempt to complete the career Grand Slam with a Masters victory, he said “it’s just narratives. It's noise. It's just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year. Look, I understand the narrative and the noise, and there's a lot of anticipation and buildup coming into this tournament.”
If it was just “another tournament,” players wouldn’t adjust their schedules like they do in an effort to peak for this week. All the top PGA Tour pros teed it up in the Players Championship, which ended March 16. That left three tournaments before the Masters – Tampa, Houston and San Antonio.
“You've got a decision to make,” said McIlroy, who won the Players Championship. “If this week wasn't the week that it was, I'd probably take those three weeks off, but I knew that I needed to at least have one more competitive week leading in here. I opted for Houston rather than San Antonio just to change it up, more than anything else, bit of a change of scenery.”
The dozen players from LIV Golf in the Masters had no such decision to make. They are contractually obligated to play in all 14 of their tour’s events. That means all of them played last week at Doral.
Another way the Masters is not just one of 39 stops on the PGA Tour can be seen by the preparation players put into it. Most of the big names make at least one scouting trip to Augusta National in the weeks before the Masters. McIlroy made two separate trips this year.
“I think because it's a golf course we go back to every year, maybe there's a little more knowledge that's needed for certain shots, and definitely you're going to face particular shots on this golf course that you don't really face any other week of the year,” McIlroy said. “So coming up here a couple of times, doing a little bit more preparation on some of those shots on the golf course I think is important.”
Jon Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion, is also a fan of early visits to Augusta National. Not just to get a feel for the course and check out any changes made, but the fun of it.
“This is my ninth appearance,” he said. “Out of those nine, seven I came early to practice, this being the second time that I haven't come early, and the other time was '23 where I ended up winning. It doesn't really say much, I would say. But I've enjoyed coming for a few days with a good friend of mine, a member, and just get to play the golf course a little bit.
“I think a lot of it in my mind is if they made any changes to the golf course, they usually are minimal,” Rahm said. “But there's a few years when they changed No. 5 (adding 40 yards in 2019) I think a lot of people wanted to come early to see it. There's always subtle changes on the greens that you can't tell on TV that we can. You can see in person. If you're not on the green, you can't tell. There's little changes like that. But sometimes a lot of people want to come early to adjust to it, but I think it all depends on the flow and the schedule.”
As for McIlroy, one thing that doesn’t change from tournament to tournament is the way he prepares once he arrives. The Masters is no different.
“Once we get into the tournament week like now, you try to treat it the same and you just try to go through ― basically check the boxes,” he said. “I want to do certain things and I want to do my drills on the putting green and make sure I get my range sessions in just so that I've checked the boxes and feel as comfortable as I can going out there on Thursday morning.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Masters 2025 contenders open up on how they plan ahead to handle pressure
Continue reading...
