McIlroy unfazed amid run of poor form ahead of Masters

After missing the cut at last week’s Valspar Championship and the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and with just one more event before the Masters on the schedule, you could forgive Rory McIlroy for getting a tad fidgety.

I mean, do you think he knows it's the only major he needs to complete the Grand Slam? Someone needs to tell him!

However, the Northern Irishman is level headed when talking about his form, and seems confident he can unerath his best stuff before making the drive down Magnolia Lane.

After finishing early at Valspar, McIlroy spent time at the Bear’s Club, Florida, working with his swing coach Michael Bannon to iron out the kinks. 

 “The work I did with Michael last week when he was over was no more intense than any other practice session we’ve had and I always go through periods like this in a year,” he said.

“Everyone has periods of ups and downs but then I remember we had an intense period after The Open at Royal Lytham (2012 – T60th) and this was after a good start to my year and a real purple patch period including winning the Honda Classic to go to number one in the world,” he said.

“Then after working with Michael I went to Akron for the Bridgestone Invitational and finished fifth which was a real spark and I recall saying to myself: ‘Oh, This feels better’.

“Then the next week I went to Kiawah Island and won the PGA Championship and then won back-to-back FedEx Cup tournaments.

“So, there has always been periods in my career like that and this game is not always linear as it ebbs and flows, and I guess it’s like what Padraig (Harrington) says and that is it’s always work in progress.”

McIlroy tees off today at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and will be desperate to putt in a solid performance to quieten the critics.