As Rory McIlroy strives to win a first Masters he revealed he spent Monday bizarrely sorting out the driver of six time Augusta National winning Jack Nicklaus.
McIlroy was on the exclusive Bears Club range close to his Palm Beach Gardens palatial abode when Nicklaus, and club named after the “Golden Bear” made his way on the range.
“I was practicing at The Bear’s Club and he came over to day he was trying a few drivers,” said McIlroy.
“It’s amazing how competitive he still is. It’s unbelievable. So yeah, that was really it. It was more of a passing comment.
“But I think I helped Jack more than he helped me.
“I adjusted his driver for him because he’s trying to hit it longer than Gary Thursday morning. I told him, if he hits it longer than Gary, I want a mention because I adjusted the weight in his driver. He kept hitting it left.
“I said, If you adjust this, it might help. He is very old school and whatever. I adjusted it for him and he started hitting these little fades. I was like, Perfect, there you go “
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland uses an iron on No. 4 during Practice Round 2 for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. (Masters.com
McIlroy is contesting his ninth Masters since his debut in 2009 and along with Phil Mickleson being the only two active players who can win the Grand Slam.
And while McIlroy is confident in the fact he has contested just five events this year there is some uncertainty in the equipment he will take on to the first tee.
McIlroy had been using the Callaway “Epic” driver but he’s swapped that for the latest TaylorMade M2 driver.
“I’ve came up here when I was with Nike, and even like bent 3‑woods to 12 degrees to make them like mini drivers and put a little bit of weight in the heel so it would make them turnover easier,” he said.
“So, I’ve always been experimenting with that sort of stuff and trying to find the best possible setup for this golf course. So, it’s not new that I’ve done that.
“It’s a nice position to be in. You have the freedom to try what’s out there, but again, it would be nice at some point to have a very settled bag where I know what I’m using week‑in, week‑out. I feel like I’m nearly at that point but not quite.
“But I feel like what I have in my bag this week will be adequate enough to do the job if I can make good swings with them.”
In two visits to Augusta National these past few months along with two full rounds of practice this week McIlroy said he has played 99 holes and the latest 18 on Tuesday in the company of two amateurs, Australian Curtis Luck, and the reigning US Amateur and Asia Pacific Amateur winner along with 19- year old Chilean Toto Gana, who captured the Latin America Championship earlier this year.
Curtis Luck of Australia uses an iron on No. 4 during Practice Round 2 for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 4, 2017.
And McIlroy saw the fun side of playing along the two amateurs in what he described as a Masters Pro Am.
“On the first tee, they all showed up for the game so I said, I’m a pro and you guys are amateurs, I’m going to make money at this,” said McIlroy smiling.
“But I asked Curtis, I said, When are you turning pro? He goes, On Monday. I said, I’ll accept payment on Monday (smiling).
“Curtis’s game is good. He’s very ‑‑ I think one of the big things that will stick with him, he seems very chill, very like flat‑liner. Nothing really fazes him. It didn’t seem like anything fazed him out there.
“His golf game is good and he hits it plenty far enough. He’s very consistent. I didn’t really see any weaknesses there.
“He obviously had a great run winning the U.S. Amateur and winning the Asia‑Pacific, as well. You know, it’s an exciting prospect for you guys the next few years.”
McIlroy has been drawn to play the opening two rounds alongside Hideto Tanihara of Japan and Spanish hot shot rookie Jon Rahm.
Both Tanihara and Rahm did something that McIlroy failed to achieve in his last start and that was to win their way to the final 16 of last fortnight’s WGC – Dell Match-Play Championship in Austin, Texas.
Tanihara was beaten in the semi-final by World No. 1 Dustin Johnson while Johnson was then taken the 18th hole for a second straight match in defeating the 22-year old Rahm in the final.
“My draw’s fine as I was expecting something like that,” he said.
“I played with Hideki here a number of times and I’ve played with a few of the Asian contenders, so I sort of expected one of those guys.
“And then Jon Rahm, I haven’t played with him competitively. We played 18 holes, a practice round, in Austin. I’m really impressed with his game. Obviously he had a great win earlier this year at Torrey Pines, and then gave it a great run in Austin. He’s a great young player. He’ll be a huge asset to our European Ryder Cup Team in years to come. I’m looking forward to it.
“The weather forecast, at least the wind the first two days will dry the golf course out a little bit, with all this rain that we’re expecting tomorrow. But the course wasn’t as soft as I expected it to be today. It was still in really good shape after the rain yesterday.
“It has been quite blustery here the last few years and I think the guys, we’ve experienced those conditions and hopefully I know how to handle them by now.”
