Rory McIlroy stresses he is focused on his third victory of the season at the Texas Children's Houston Open, even with the Masters looming.
McIlroy visited Augusta National on his annual tour after his triumph at the Players Championship at Sawgrass, which came six weeks after he began his PGA Tour season by winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The world number two is keen to return to the Masters and end her Grand Slam career and has chosen to play the Houston Open for the first time since 2014 rather than next week's Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
“I just want to take matters into my own hands, get some points and hopefully go out there and try to win another trophy,” McIlroy said at a pre-tournament press conference.
“I'm not playing here this week thinking about what's going to happen in two weeks. I'm here now trying to do the best I can this week trying to win this golf tournament.
“Obviously I’m playing pretty well and I want to keep it up, so I think every round when you see something positive, you gradually fill that confidence cup and that’s what I want to see.
“Winning a couple of weeks ago was great, but I still feel like I can do a lot better. I tried to pick up on a lot of areas of my game last week and think about what I could improve on, and there were definitely things I could work on or do better.
“It’s a great opportunity to get out and see if some of the work I’ve been doing at home and continue to do here is moving in the right direction.”
McIlroy's recent trip to Augusta allowed him to assess the course's condition following damage caused by Hurricane Helena last fall, with four greens, including the 16th, also restored.
“The loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable and they had to rethink that [16th] green, but it's still the same,” McIlroy said.
“The moon will play… except maybe a little less shadow on the green at the end of the day due to a couple of lost trees, but otherwise it's pretty much the same.”
Reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, seeking a third green jacket in four years, will also compete in Houston, where he finished second last year with four wins.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
