AUGUSTA, United States – World No. 2 Rory McIlroy believes he has "all the ingredients" in place to finally win the Masters, having picked up "scar tissue" from his past experiences at Augusta National.
The Northern Irishman, who has won every major except the Masters, has been putting in the hours at Augusta, having played 81 holes since arriving last Thursday.
And with his recent troubles with his driver now behind him, the 33-year-old is in a calm and confident mood.
"I'm feeling as relaxed as I ever have coming in here. I feel like my game is in a pretty good place. I know the place just as about as well as anyone," McIlroy said Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time).
"I've got all the ingredients to make the pie. It's just putting all those ingredients in and setting the oven to the right temperature and letting it all sort of come to fruition.
"But I know that I've got everything there. It's just a matter of putting it all together."
McIlroy has had his share of pain, as well as promise, at American golf's most iconic venue and memories of his 2011 final-round meltdown linger.
Nightmare back nine
Then 21-years-old, McIlroy went into the final round with a four shot lead but ended it 10 strokes back after a nightmare on the back nine that saw him triple bogey the 10th hole, where he ended up in the grounds of the adjacent cabins.
Last year, he struggled in the opening two rounds but then came within a stroke of the course record with a brilliant round of 64 that earned him second place behind winner Scottie Scheffler.
McIlroy says the highs and lows have all contributed to his evolution as a player at Augusta.
"You have to learn from those challenges and learn from some of that scar tissue that's built up," he said.
"I felt last year that I maybe shed some of that scar tissue and felt like I sort of made breakthroughs.
"You probably learn a bit more from those bad experiences and I feel like I've done pretty well at sort of putting those lessons into my play and being better because of them."
McIlroy said his periodic troubles at Augusta had usually been to do with the way he has approached rounds in his mind rather than any stroke or technique issues.
"I've always felt like I have the physical ability to win this tournament. But it's being in the right head space to let those physical abilities shine through," he said, adding that he had been working with sports psychologist Bob Rotella ahead of this year's tournament.
But he also believes he has paid the price for slow starts to the Masters.
"It has been tentative starts, not putting my foot on the gas early enough. I've had a couple of bad nine holes that have sort of thrown me out of the tournament at times," he said, noting that Augusta National remains a tough course to chase on.
Many observers have suggested the four-time major winner has a game well-suited to the famous course, and while McIlroy doesn't dissent from that view, he questions its relevance.
"They said the same thing about Ernie Els, Greg Norman," he said of two of the game's greats who never managed a Masters win.
"Look, it's a factor and it's nice to know that I come back to this place every year and that if I play the way I know that I can, that I should have a good chance," he said.
"I don't need to do anything differently this week. I go out and play the way that I know that I can, get myself in with a chance to win, and then those last couple hours on Sunday, it's not about whether the course sets up well for you, it's about who can hold it together the best."