Had he stayed home this week, Rory McIlroy knows exactly what he’d find himself doing: thinking about the Masters, pondering the possibilities.
So he changed up his schedule.
Not a fan of pool play at the Match Play, McIlroy opted to skip the only World Golf Championships event of the season in favor of a week of practice in South Florida. And wanting his final start before the Masters to be a stroke-play tournament, he instead signed up for this week’s Valero Texas Open for the first time since 2013, when he finished second and headed into the year’s first major with an added boost of confidence.