Rory McIlroy’s Masters Preparation Sounds Like the Dream
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2 MIN READ

April 11, 2026

Rory McIlroy’s Masters Preparation Sounds Like the Dream

Every golfer in the world should be jealous of Rory McIlroy's Masters preparation.

By

&

Riley Hamel

Rory McIlroy is 12 under through 36 holes of the 90th Masters, six shots ahead of the chasing pack—the largest halfway lead in tournament history—and leads the field in birdies (15). His decision to opt out of a number of events in the run-up to the year’s first major championship has worked pretty damn well up to this point—his last PGA TOUR start was at THE PLAYERS.

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It just so happens that his preparation sounds like the best life ever.

Instead of playing in either the Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open, or Valero Texas Open, he stayed at home. Well, for the most part.

After signing his card on Friday afternoon, McIlroy sat with the media and revealed that he had made several trips to Augusta National in the weeks leading up to the Masters—and some of them were day trips.

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“I did a couple of days where I dropped Poppy to school, flew up here, played, landed back home, and had dinner with her—or had dinner with Erica and Poppy,” he said. “I did a couple of day trips like that where I felt it was a better use of my time than going to Houston or San Antonio.”

I’m sure Brian Rolapp isn’t too pumped to hear that.

Regardless of the new CEO's opinion, Rory's approach working so far. There’s a lot of golf to be played over the next two days, but a freed-up McIlroy looks like he’s going to be a problem for the rest of the field.

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