hen you first burst on the scene, a lot of people said, this kid is definitely going to win the Masters, his game is tailor-made for this course. All these years on, do you feel that about the course and that the course plays to your strengths perhaps more than every other major venue?

RORY McILROY: It does, but they said the same thing about Ernie Els, Greg Norman — I’m not mentioning LIV.

There’s been players before that that has been said; that, you know, this course is tailor-made for those players and they haven’t went on to win a green jacket. That’s always in my mind, too. It’s not just because a place is deemed, you know, perfectly set up for your game, it doesn’t automatically mean that you’re going to win it one day. There’s more to it than that. There’s also been players that you would think this golf course wouldn’t set up well for them, and they have went on and won a green jacket.

Look, it’s a factor and it’s nice to know that I come back to this place every year and that if I played the way I know that I can, that I should have a good chance.

Yeah, I don’t need to do anything differently this week. I go out and play the way that I know that I can, get myself in with a chance to win, and then, you know, those last couple hours on Sunday, it’s not about whether the course sets up well for you. It’s about who can hold it together the best.