Rory McIlroy will BENEFIT from losing to Tiger Woods ahead of The Masters - Paul McGinley

Rory McIlroy will BENEFIT from losing to Tiger Woods ahead of The Masters - Paul McGinley

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 That’s the opinion of former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, who believes McIlroy suffering a small blip just before heading off to Augusta could work in his favour. McIlroy has enjoyed a storming start to 21, highlighted by his impressive win at The Players Championship last month. He has finished sixth or higher in all tournaments this calendar year, but looked out of sorts in his WGC-Match Play loss to Tiger Woods last time out. Heading into the 16th hole, Woods held a slender one-shot lead and gave his opponent a chance with his drive failing to carry over a fairway bunker, resting on the lip of the sand-trap. But while McIlroy hit a stunning 35-yard drive, he failed to capitalise with his second shot. The 2-year-old eventually conceded the hole after hitting his third shot over the green and next to a wall. It was a concerning performance from the three-time major ahead of The Masters, where McIlroy is aiming to win the only major that has alluded him in his career. He has finished in the top-1 in his last five tries at Augusta, but he has always been haunted by the infamous 211 final round collapse where he let a four-shot lead slip. But McIlroy enters this year’s Masters as the over-riding favourite to put on the Green Jacket come Sunday evening. And even though there were cracks showing against Woods at the WGC Dell Technologies Championship, McGinley believes that could end up helping McIlroy. “It was a worry no doubt,” he said. “Not so much losing to Tiger Woods, but the fact that his performance dropped so much. “His putting performance fell off a cliff. “Of the 16 players playing that morning, he was last in putting for that one day. “But the important thing is that he would have learned from it, and maybe it’s a really good thing that he came off the boil a little bit going into Augusta, because it will make him go away and analyse what happened in that round — and just when he needed it most, playing against Tiger.”

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