Change of approach is worth a shot
Day, McIlroy vow to keep it simple in quest for 1st jacket
There was Day's first Masters in 2011, when he shot a stunning 64 in his second round and finished tied for second.
That same year McIlroy, in his third Masters, led at the turn Sunday before a shocking collapse.
In the four Masters since, neither Day nor McIlroy has seized a green jacket while winning other majors, and the grandness of being at Augusta has been tinged by the grind to get better here.
Presumably without a discussion between them, each decided to alter his approach to the Masters as the pressure mounts.
They've reasoned that the best route to the Butler Cabin ceremony Sunday night might be stripping away the mystique of the place and just playing golf.
“Yeah, that's basically it,” McIlroy said. “I really feel like I play my best golf when I'm more relaxed, when I'm having fun out there, and I'm not overdoing it, not overthinking it.”
Said Day, “I just want to make sure I don't overdo it. And this has been a tournament in the past that I've tried too hard and shot myself out of the tournament.”
It's understandable for newcomers to arrive at Augusta and feel as if they're kindergartners tasked with doing masters-level geometry. They gobble up advice from veterans, study the angles, hit chip after chip, roll putt after putt trying to find some semblance of precision.
McIlroy did that for most of his first seven Masters. His results are admirable. The Northern Irishman posted his best finishes here the last two years — eighth and fourth.
But that's not good enough for the 26-year-old who has won four majors and 23 tournaments worldwide. Losing is losing.
This year, McIlroy didn't make any side trips to play Augusta, nor did he arrive early. He begged off the par-3 contest Wednesday and got serious in practice rounds by playing in matches.
McIlroy said he shaped shots out of the woods and pine straw. He took his medicine in bunkers. He didn't hit a bunch of drives — no mulligans allowed.
“Sort of putting yourself under pressure in practice rounds already,” McIlroy said. “It's a very special event and obviously it is different, but I don't want to treat it any differently. I want to come here and prepare the best way possible for me.”
Feeling “more exposed in terms of eyeballs on me” last year, McIlroy shot himself out of the tournament early by stumbling to 3 over in the first 27 holes. He carded 15 under the rest of the way but finished six shots behind winner Jordan Spieth's record-tying performance.
“I've started to realize that this is probably one of the courses ... that you can be super aggressive and take on pins,” McIlroy said. “I feel like I've learned the balance of this course over the years.”
Day, 28, was a precocious Masters starter in his first three appearances, sandwiching second- and third-place finishes around a withdrawal for an ankle injury. In the last two years, the Australian hasn't finished better than 20th while notching four top-10s in the other three majors, including his PGA Championship victory in August.
Day said he went from enjoying simply being at Augusta to answering all the questions about when he was going to win. That led to the thought: “I've got to force it this year.”
“And that's when I started missing stuff and making mistakes and mental errors,” he said. “So this year I'm just going through my normal game plan and just play ... and hopefully I'll give it a good run at the end of the week.”
As the world No. 1 coming off a victory in the Match Play, Day has been installed by oddsmakers as a slight favorite over McIlroy and Spieth. But perhaps in an effort to relieve that pressure, Day said, “To be honest, I don't think I'm the favorite.”
He reeled off the names others have cited as contenders — Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson.
“I enjoy and thrive off that competition,” Day said. “I would enjoy a Spieth-McIlroy-Fowler-Scott-Watson-Mickelson Sunday.”
So might golf fans.
“That,” Day said, “would be a lot of fun.”
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