Rory McIlroy revealed he will skip the Par 3 Contest on the eve of next week’s Masters at Augusta to focus on his goal of winning the year’s first major.
“I’m not going to play the Par 3 Contest this year as it’s just too much hassle and a bit of a distraction,” said the Northern Irishman. (Read more in Golf)
The four-time major winner will be making his eighth straight appearance in the Masters and only once has he not played the Par 3 Contest at Augusta National.
That was five years ago in 2011 when he went into the final round of his then third Masters leading by four shots before the horrible meltdown of recording an 80 to tumble to a share of 15th place behind South African Charl Schwartzel.
“The year I had my best chance at Augusta, and that was in 2011 when I didn’t play the Par 3 Contest, so maybe the decision not to play it this year can work in my favour,” explained McIlroy.
A year ago, McIlroy recorded his best Augusta finish of fourth behind Jordan Spieth.
However in the past two years there has been more than the normal media interest in McIlroy’s choice for his Par 3 Contest caddy.
n 2014, then fiancee and tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki was on the bag, while last year, it was One Direction’s Niall Horan who carried McIlroy’s clubs.
McIlroy spoke openly of his emotions following his WGC-Dell Match Play semi-final defeat to Jason Day last week.
And then, after losing the third place shoot-out to Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello it was clear McIlroy could not leave the Austin Country Club course quick enough.
Rory McIlroy won't play next week's Par-3 Contest, so if Niall Horan wants to caddie again, he'll have to go in, um, another direction.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelESPN) March 29, 2016
Article courtesy: Sport 360
