AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am: Rory McIlroy finally plays with Dad
Rory McIlroy maintains a strong bond with his dad at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, even as he builds his loaded schedule towards the Masters.
It’s hard to believe that this will be the first time Rory McIlroy has played the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, but that’s the case. That changes this week when McIlroy tees it up with his dad as his partner.
There are two reasons he made the decision to enter. One had to do with the Middle East tournaments ending a week earlier than usual, and when that happened, it gave him a week in Florida to unpack and adjust before starting his PGA Tour season. The second is that the tournament accommodated his wish to play with his dad.
“It’s a tournament that I’ve always watched, and I’ve always thought one day it would be really cool to play with my dad and fortunately we were able to get him in and play,” McIlroy explained in his pre-tournament press conference.
Of equal importance, McIlroy is finally healthy and wants to play as much golf as he can play. In fact, he’s playing six out of seven weeks prior to the Masters.
"“I feel like I haven’t played a whole lot over the past 18 months for various reasons and, not really making up for lost time, but just missed playing, missed playing competitive golf,” he explained. “I feel like there’s nothing in my way, there’s nothing stopping me from playing a pretty full schedule. So, it’s nice to start here in California and work my way back East and play a couple of tournaments that I’ve never played before, so excited for that.”"
After the AT&T, he’s playing the Genesis Open for the second time, Honda, a regular on his schedule, Valspar for the first time, and the Arnold Palmer, which he has played several times since having a home in Florida. He’s skipping the WGC Mexico, and added Valspar to give him three in a row two times and to keep from being of for two weeks.
In addition to missing professional golf after being sidelined so often in the last year or two, he thinks maybe he didn’t play enough golf before the Masters in previous years, and as most golf fans know, the Masters is standing in the way of McIlroy completing the career grand slam.
"“I think that once I get to Augusta, one excuse I won’t have is not being prepared and being under-golfed, and I’ll have played a lot of tournament golf leading up to it,” he said. “I wanted to do it last year as well. I wanted to play a heavy schedule, but the injury didn’t allow me to do that leading up to Augusta. So hopefully I can fulfill that this year and play a lot and get into contention a bunch of times and get my confidence up at the start of the year.”More from Pro Golf NowGolf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning dealFantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player SelectionsBrutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at ConcessionFantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament"
It’s the age-old dilemma: how much golf is too much? When does playing a lot of golf hurt more than help? How much rest does a golfer need? Everybody is different.
What McIlroy wants to do is to feel the nerves of competition and play well with them. He wants to be in contention or win once before the Masters, gain that positive attitude that winning breeds.
He has a start on that with near misses in the Middle East where he had a 2nd and a 3rd.
"“I was maybe tied for the lead with nine holes to go in Abu Dhabi and Tommy (Fleetwood) played an unbelievable back nine,” he recalled. “I was two ahead with eight to go in Dubai. I should have won that, I let that tournament slip. But again, they’re great building blocks.”"
This week he will have two new courses to learn, not just one. And he hopes his dad, Gerry, who has been practicing at Seminole, can take the pace of four tournament rounds.
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“We have played in the European equivalent of Dunhill Links a few times before and we have done well at it, but this is a little bit different,” he noted. “It will be nice to, a nice experience to hopefully play four rounds of golf with him. Obviously, we’re going to, first thing is to try and make the cut so he can play on Sunday. But, yeah, it’s going to be a great week.”
The McIlroys are paired with Phil Mickelson and investment banker Jimmy Dunne III.