Rory McIlroy talks Augusta National changes ahead of 2025 Masters

• Rory McIlroy visited Augusta National to prepare for the Masters and familiarize himself with the course changes.
• McIlroy seeks to win the Masters and complete the career grand slam.
• McIlroy noted the 16th hole’s green was redone but remains largely unchanged, with fewer shadows due to tree loss.

HOUSTON — Before Rory McIlroy went to Houston to tee it up in the Texas Children’s Houston Open, he made a pit stop at Augusta National Golf Club.

The Masters begins two weeks from Thursday, where McIlroy will look to complete the career grand slam. It will be his 11th time playing the Masters with a chance to finish the slam, but this year he could arguably supplant world No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler as the favorite thanks to his recent play.

McIlroy captured the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the West Coast Swing before winning his second Players title last Monday, topping J.J. Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff. He added Memorial Park Golf Course as his final start before the year’s first major, but his prep for Augusta National started this week.

Why did he go to, and what did he notice during his practice round?

“I use those trips just to refamiliarize myself with the place, clubs off tees, looking to see if they changed any greens,” McIlroy said. “There’s four greens that are new this year that they’ve redone. You have a look at those and see if there’s any new hole positions they give you, stuff like that.

“Apart from that, honestly for me, it’s nice to play a practice round without people around and it sort of takes the pressure off the start of the week for me. There’s a lot of obligations, there’s big commitments whether it be from media or the Par 3 Tournament on Wednesday. I just like to get up there and feel like I’m not rushed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday the week of the tournament and that’s usually the reason I go there.”

McIlroy didn’t specify which four greens were new, but he did talk about the par-3 16th green and the changes on and around that hole because of Hurricane Helene.

Earlier this year, chairman Fred Ridley said Augusta National was in spectacular shape following damage from Hurricane Helene. The property lost a few trees, but Ridley said any damage to playing surfaces was mended quickly and the course wouldn’t have any major changes because of the storm.

“The loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable, but in terms of like they’ve had to redo that green but it’s exactly the same as what it was,” Mclroy said of 16. “The hole will play — apart from maybe a few less shadows on the green late in the day because of a couple of trees that were lost, but apart from that, it’s pretty much the same.”