World No. 1 Rory McIlroy’s quest to become just the sixth golfer to have won the coveted ‘Grand Slam’ will take on heightened proportions when he travels next week to Augusta National.

McIlroy intends taking his father and two friends to Augusta for two days next week ahead of contesting next fortnight’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in suburban Orlando.

And with the Masters focus drawing closer and closer on McIlroy  the four-time Major winner again found himself tackling pre-Masters questions on the eve of this week’s $US 9.25m WGC – Cadillac Championship here at Trump International Doral.

Rory McIlroy getting his yardages right for this week’s WGC – Cadillac Championship and revealing he will be heading to Augusta to do the same next week. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

“I’d rather have the questions, because it’s obviously a great position to be in going into Augusta and having it be the only major that I haven’t won.  It’s not a bad position to be in,” he said.

“There’s always excitement and anticipation and hype that surrounds Augusta every year, and I feel it regardless if I’m going in as the favorite or under the radar or whatever.

“Still, it’s the first tournament, first major tournament of the year.  Really, the start of the golfing season for the general public.  Augusta is the kick‑off, really, even though we’ve got some great events leading up to it.  For the general public that don’t tune in to watch golf that often, Augusta is sort of the start of the season.

“There’s always hype.  There’s always buildup.  My name is getting thrown around a little bit more than it used to, but I’m okay with that.”

McIlroy is returning to competition since posting scores of 73 and 74 to miss the cut in last week’s Honda Classic but then he shot a blistering nine-under par 63 on Monday to win individual honours in the Seminole Golf Club ‘Pro-Member’ outing at the ultra-private course at Juno Beach and some 90-minutes drive north of Miami.

“It was good.  I played really well on Monday at Seminole.  I think I hit every green.  The course was soft, so it wasn’t playing like it usually does,” he said.

“But to shoot a score like that around that calibre of golf course is always nice.  I guess it just shows, my game is there.  I just struggled a little bit in the wind last week, but I feel like I’ve rectified that since.”