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Rory McIlroy addressed critics who claimed he played Augusta too frequently before The Masters. He won the tournament for the second consecutive time in April 2025, becoming the sixth player to achieve a career Grand Slam.
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One of the most bizarre narratives in the history of professional sport emerged after Rory McIlroy won The Masters for the second consecutive time in April.
McIlroy has already firmly established himself as one of the greatest players of all time, and at the age of 37, heâs far from finished.
The Northern Irishman became only the sixth man in the history of the game to complete the career Grand Slam after winning The Masters in 2025.
And then Rory McIlroy successfully defended his title at Augusta National last month, becoming only the fourth golfer in Masters history to do so.
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However, McIlroy received criticism after his Masters win for playing too many practice rounds at Augusta National!
Quite where that line of opinion began is anybodyâs guess, but surely we can all agree now that it was a truly ridiculous narrative, canât we?
McIlroy openly admitted after winning his second green jacket that the reason why he chose not to play in any of the three events leading up to The Masters was so that he could prepare properly at Augusta National.
Rory McIlroy responded to critics who suggested he played Augusta too much before The Masters, emphasizing his commitment to the sport.
By winning The Masters in 2025, Rory McIlroy became only the sixth man in golf history to complete the career Grand Slam.
Rory McIlroy has won The Masters twice, with his most recent victory occurring in April 2025.
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During an appearance on the New Heights Podcast, McIlroy responded when asked what he made of the criticism aimed at him for playing too many practice rounds at Augusta National ahead of The Masters.
âActually, my last couple of events before the Masters in Florida, I tweaked my back a little bit, so I had to pull out of the event in Orlando,â McIlroy started off by saying.
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âAnd then I probably played, I donât know, probably 75% capacity at The Players.
âSo I took three weeks off leading into Augusta, I think, more to get my body right.
âAnd then it gave me the opportunity to go up to Augusta and prepare maybe more than anyone else in the field, which actually got a little bit of sâât for afterwards, which was really weird.
âHow about that?â
The criticism that McIlroy received for playing too many practice rounds at Augusta National ahead of The Masters was quite frankly ridiculous.
How can an elite-level sportsman be criticized for âover-preparingâ? Itâs beyond farcical.
Also, do those who were criticizing McIlroy truly believe that the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson didnât do the same during their prime years?
Rory McIlroy prepared as well as he could for the defence of his Masters title.
And like Michael Kim said at the time, every single player in the field at Augusta National had the opportunity to play multiple practice rounds during the weeks leading up to The Masters.
The criticisms of Rory McIlroy were truly ridiculous to begin with and, thankfully, the majority of golf fans are on board with that notion.