Tom McKibbin reveals how Rory McIlroy looked in his practice round before The Masters
Rory McIlroy defends his Masters title in less-than-ideal circumstances. The 36-year-old withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month with a back injury, and while he played in The Players Championship a week later, McIlroy has since decided to rest and recover ahead of the year’s first major.
Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images Rory McIlroy defends his Masters title in less-than-ideal circumstances. The 36-year-old withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month with a back injury, and while he played in The Players Championship a week later, McIlroy has since decided to rest and recover ahead of the year’s first major. It’s far from usual for McIlroy to prepare for a major championship in this way, so the back was clearly something that needed to be managed leading up to Augusta.
So as he looks to become the first player to win back-to-back Masters since Tiger Woods, all eyes are on McIlroy’s swing this week. And fellow Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin gave some insight into how he looked. Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images Tom McKibbin said Rory McIlroy made Augusta look ‘easy’ McKibbin said he played a few practice holes with McIlroy during his Tuesday practice round and gained some valuable insight into how to navigate the course.
He said that McIlroy made the course look easy as he played 17 and 18. When asked what his practice holes were like, McKibbin said, “It was cool. He went early and played 18.
I started on the back around 9:00, and he caught up with us around 15. So we played the last four holes. It was pretty nice.