Rory McIlroy seeks counsel of Butch Harmon ahead of The Masters; "The one thing with Butch is when you go and spend time with him, you're always going to feel better at the end of it" - watch McIlroy in action at Valero Texas Open, live on Sky Sports from 1.15pm, Thursday
Thursday 4 April 2024 12:52, UK
Rory McIlroy has consulted Tiger Woods' former coach Butch Harmon as he prepares for his 10th attempt at completing the Grand Slam by winning The Masters.
Victory at Augusta National this month, live on Sky Sports, would see McIlroy emulate Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player and Ben Hogan as the only men to claim all four major championships.
The Northern Irishman will tee it up at the Valero Texas Open this week before heading to Georgia for The Masters, a major at which he has recorded seven top-10 finishes but missed the cut twice in the past three years.
Speaking on the 'I Can Fly' podcast, McIlroy said: "I went last week to see Butch Harmon for a golf lesson.
"I've seen him over the years, like once every few years. I'll say, 'Hey, Butch, can I just come see you and you can take a look and see what you think'."
Speaking further about Harmon during his press conference ahead of the Valero Texas Open, McIlroy said the trip was "worthwhile", adding: "I met Butch when I was 14 years old, so we've always had a good relationship. If there's one guy that I want to go and get a second opinion from, it's him.
"After The Players, struggling through that Florida Swing with my swing and with some of the misses I was having with my irons, I just thought to myself 'I'm obviously missing something here' and that I would love to get him take a look, get a second opinion, a second set of eyes.
"The one thing with Butch is when you go and spend time with him, you're always going to feel better about yourself at the end of it whether you're hitting it better or not. He's sort of half golf coach, half psychologist in a way.
"I went and spent probably four hours with him in Vegas. He said a couple of things to me that resonated.
"It's the same stuff that I've been trying to do with my coach Michael [Bannon], but he sort of just said it in a different way that maybe hit home with me a little bit more.
"It was a really worthwhile trip and I feel like I've done some good work after that."
On where he feels he is with his golf, McIlroy added: "I think my game's shown signs of life in all different departments over the course of the year. Some week's the driving's good, some weeks the irons are good. It's just trying to put it all together.
"I feel like I've made some pretty big strides, especially with some of the things I was struggling with. That's why this week is a great week to tee it up and see sort of where the last couple weeks of work has gotten me.
"The results haven't been what I would have liked, but I've learnt a lot about where my game is.
"If I hadn't played as much over the past couple of months, I maybe wouldn't have started going down this path that I'm on of trying to clean up the technique a little bit.
"I think it's been good. There's been struggles in there too which aren't great, but I think looking at the bigger picture, if I can get through that and get my game to a really good spot where I can play great now from April through to August, I'll be happy."
Watch the Valero Texas Open live on Sky Sports from Thursday through to Sunday. Coverage of day one begins at 1.15pm on Sky Sports Golf. Then catch The Masters exclusively live on Sky Sports between April 11-14.
Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm over the first two rounds on Thursday April 11 and Friday April 12, with Featured Group action and regular updates from around the course available to enjoy on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm.
There will be lots of extra action throughout all four days via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, along with Sky Q and Sky Glass, providing plenty of bonus feeds and allowing you to follow players' progress through various parts of Augusta's famous layout.
The notorious Amen Corner stream will also be available and focuses on the famous three-hole stretch from the 11th, while a feed of the fourth, fifth and sixth holes will go live each day as soon as the opening group reach that part of the course.
Another stream covering the 15th and 16th hole is also available for every round, while extended coverage of the weekend action begins at both 3pm on both Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14.
Sky Sports Golf will show build-up content and occasional live updates from the course before the global broadcast window starts at 8pm for the third round and 7pm for the final day, with early action available throughout via the red button.
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