Rory McIlroy taking relaxed approach after early scouting trip to Aronimink

Rory McIlroy is taking a leaf out of his Masters playbook as he looks to make it a hat-trick of US PGA Championship titles this week at Aronimink Golf Club.

When McIlroy arrived at Augusta National last month for his Masters title defence he was well prepared.

After withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with an injury and making the cut at THE PLAYERS, he skipped the next three weeks of tournaments and spent much of that time at Augusta.

That approach paid off with a second Green Jacket, and while it's not the first time he's done it, McIlroy is seemingly making a conscious effort to be as best prepared for Majors as possible - which includes getting an early look at this week's US PGA Championship venue too.

For Aronimink, the schedule did not allow for multiple trips, but McIlroy still carved out one important window two Fridays ago to see a course he had not played since finishing fifth at the 2018 BMW Championship.

“I flew up in the morning," said the 2012 and 2014 champion. "I probably spent five hours on the golf course, headed back to the airport and flew home. It was just I wanted to just get an early look because I knew that was going to be my only opportunity to do so.

"I definitely think courses we don't see very often, whether it's here or Shinnecock or Frisco, it certainly has benefited me over the years. I remember the first time I did it for a Major Championship was Congressional in 2011 on the back of a recommendation from Jack Nicklaus. So it's helped me over the years.

"Some Majors, I haven't went to the tournament site ahead of schedule, and I've done well, but for the most part when I have made an advanced trip, it's worked out well for me.

"It also gives me the ability to go home on Sunday night, see Erica and Poppy yesterday, and then come up here and not feel stressed about having to play a lot of holes or get up here early. I can take more of a relaxed approach going into the week."

That reconnaissance gave him a sense of how different Aronimink might play this week compared with the soft, wet set-up of 2018. The firmer conditions, he said, bring out the character of the greens, which he expects to be the course’s main defence.

“If you get yourself above the hole or you start to short‑side yourself, you can get yourself in some tricky spots,” he said. “Keeping the ball below the hole is the key this week.”

As well as prepared, McIlroy arrives with a clearer head and clearer goals than he did a year ago at Quail Hollow Golf Club.

After completing a life-long goal with his career Grand Slam 13 months ago, McIlroy has readily admitted he struggled to get his head round future goals or what his path in the game was. He finished in a tie for 47th that week.

A year on, with another Masters under his belt, that goal is now clear: more Majors.

"I think I came into this tournament last year a little bit sort of uncertain of what my future was," he said. "It's just like I conquered this thing that I wanted to conquer for so long, and I was a little bit... I still hadn't really reset goals or found whatever that motivation was to keep going or go forward and set myself goals for the rest of my career. It probably took me a good few months to get to that point.

"As I've said, like last week, coming into this tournament feels a lot different than what it did last year. I feel like I've got some nice clear road ahead to try to get some more of these Majors."

One thing that McIlroy did admit to struggling with over the past few years has been the event's switch in 2019 from August to May, but his results still include three top tens over the past seven years.

"I always sort of grouped Akron and the PGA together as that sort of two-week stretch after The Open," he said. "Honestly, since the tournament has moved to May, my results haven't been that great here at the PGA.

"I feel like it's a very tight window between the Masters and this tournament. Obviously this used to be in August.

"August maybe provided more of an opportunity to come to the northeast a little more often.

"It's a different proposition nowadays that it's in May than it was in August, and there's pros and cons to that. I think the schedule is so condensed, and it's really just trying to figure out what the best lead-in is.

"For me, I'm never going to miss Quail Hollow last week. It's a place I love to play. It's one of my favourite tournaments of the year, and it seems like that is going to be the event leading into this week.

"So a bit like Akron, PGA in August, it seems like it's going to be Quail Hollow, PGA going forward, and that's OK with me."