The Masters 2016: Rory McIlroy shuns par-three party for a few hours of serious studying

'The only thing that’s held me back in my career is my putting'

Rory McIlroy watches his ball after driving off the seventh tee during practice at Augusta (AP)

The oohs and aahs had shifted to the other side of the property, where the par-three contest was under way. The fairways and greens that had been rammed for the best part of three days had thus emptied save for a few die-hards making the most of entry passes, hoping that a stellar name or two might walk by.

Shortly after lunch the stragglers lucked in when Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka appeared beneath the giant oak in front of the clubhouse en route to the first tee.

If a library atmosphere was the requirement for this final dress rehearsal, the golfers had their wish, striding out down the fairway in relative silence.

Up ahead Henrik Stenson plotted a solo route around the front nine. To the rear Danny Willett did the same, the vast acres unfolding before them like a football match behind closed doors. For McIlroy at least, this was about establishing rhythm and mood, sharpening the mental tools, not his game. That appears as keen as ever it was.

There was plenty of banter and light-hearted chatter as each steered a scoring ball around the course. This was manna for Johnson, who was close to losing the will to live in Tuesday’s action in a group that included US Amateur champion and science graduate Bryson DeChambeau, who insisted on giving Phil Mickelson the full benefit of his intellect as it related to the physics of a rolling ball.

Darren Clarke has backed McIlroy to win the Masters if he finds a ‘spark’ (Getty)

“Bryson and I were talking about some of the science of an uphill putt and a downhill putt and the break and why it’s most from this point and that point and so forth,” Mickelson said. “He was using some pretty scientific terms and Dustin kind of shook his head and he said, ‘If I hang around you guys much longer, I’ll never break 100’.”

McIlroy is last out today, teeing off at a minute past two in the afternoon (7.01pm BST), by which time the leaderboard will already be laced with interest. Twelve months ago McIlroy was 15 under par for his final 45 holes, which was better than any, and this in a year when Jordan Spieth fired 26 birdies and an eagle as he surged to his record-equalling winning total of 18 under par.

The problem for McIlroy was that he was three over after nine holes of his second round. He had effectively taken himself out of the equation. “I feel like the first 27 holes really cost me the tournament, and if I could have had those back, I would have gone in there with a different mindset and disposition,” he said.

“I knew as soon as the tournament finished last year that I was going to prepare maybe a bit differently for it this year.”

To that end McIlroy canned the par-three pageant with One Direction’s foremost golf groupie, Niall Horan, sacked the pre-tournament recce and brought an intensity to practice by playing a scoring ball.

He is also helped by the news values attaching to his rivals for world domination, Spieth and Jason Day, who have claimed more of the media space that a year ago was devoted largely to him and the grand slam narrative.

That still pertains, of course, but the intrusion is not so invasive. As ever, this tournament will come down to the putter, which has caused McIlroy more discomfort than any other club. He knows it, and so do golf’s glitterati.

Jack Nicklaus, one of the big five to have recorded the grand slam of majors that victory here would bestow upon McIlroy, said: “Rory has to make putts, if you don’t do that you can’t win, and Augusta is not an easy place to make putts. Not winning the grand slam is becoming a stigma. I got my grand slam out of the way when I was 26 and didn’t have to worry about it.”

McIlroy is 26. “The only thing that’s held me back in my career is putting,” he said. “You would think that this was a course that I can win on. I know that. My game feels good. It’s all about executing the shots.”