SAN ANTONIO – Rory McIlroy arrived at TPC San Antonio on Wednesday, following his visit to Augusta National, where he scouted out notable course changes ahead of next week’s Masters Tournament.
The biggest change to the course for the year’s first major championship is on hole No. 2, a par 5 known as Pink Dogwood. The tees have been moved back 10 yards to the golfers’ left.
“I thought it was going to be a different visual than it used to be, but it’s not,” said McIlroy when asked what he thought of the second tee. “I thought whenever someone said they moved it back and to the left — I thought the tee box was going to point you toward that right bunker, and you’re going to have to hit more of a draw around the corner. But I mean, if you didn’t know, you would think you were on the same tee box. It doesn’t look that much different.”
Now that McIlroy has done his due diligence ahead of the 2024 Masters Tournament, the 24-time PGA tournament champion can shift his focus to the Valero Texas Open.
Notably, the field in this year’s VTO boasts more talent than in years past, which McIlory said shouldn’t come as a surprise as golfers look to build momentum the week before the start of the major championship season.
“I think it’s a great week to, not just get ready, but it’s a great golf course as well,” McIlroy said. “It’s a course that I think fits my game pretty well. I’ve had a little bit of success here in the past and it’s a good date in the schedule. I think more and more guys are realizing that they like to play the week before going into a major championship. And this being the week before the Masters, I think it’s a great date for this tournament and for Valero.”
McIlroy, the second-ranked player in the world, enters his third Valero Texas Open as the betting odds favorite to hoist the trophy. He finished runner-up in 2013 and missed the cut in 2022. However, 2022 was the year McIlroy finished runner-up at the Masters.
“I think my game is showing signs of life in all different departments over the course of the year. Some weeks the driving’s good. Some weeks, the irons are good. It’s just sort of trying to put it all together. So, there were some signs of life at TPC,” said McIlroy after playing the front nine at TPC San Antonio in Wednesday’s ProAm. “I feel like I’ve worked hard over the last couple of weeks, 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 of weeks of work has sort of gotten me.”
McIlroy hopes success at the Valero Texas Open will generate enough momentum to end his near decade-long major championship drought at Augusta National next week.
The Northern Irish golfer tees off at 1:08 p.m. in round one of the VTO on Thursday at The Oaks Golf Course at TPC San Antonio in a group that features Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood.
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