Paul McGinley looks back at a disappointing title defence for Rory McIlroy at The Players and reflects on the work – on and off the course – he may need to consider ahead of The Masters..
If you look at what he’s done in 2026, this week aside, McIlroy’s underlying stats are all good and he has had a steady enough start to the season.
The back injury in the days leading up to The Players certainly distracted him, with the lack of preparation coming in seemingly disengaging him from being a competitor.
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Rory McIlroy reflected on his week at The Players, where he finished on level par
His driving was good, but his putting was really poor and iron play wasn’t great either, so all in all it wasn’t a week where he was tuned-in mentally. It’s a reset now to get ready for The Masters.
It was really important for him to play the weekend, because otherwise he would have upset his schedule and definitely had to add another tournament between now and the major season.
Now he has got these four rounds done, he can continue his recovery from this back issue and make sure that is done. He can reset himself, take a bit of a break and get some practice for Augusta National.
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Paul McGinley breaks down Rory McIlroy’s final round performance from The Players and what he needs to do now in order to be on top form for The Masters
Having said that, the fact that he didn’t play well over the weekend has probably put that bit of doubt in his mind that he might need some more competitive rounds under his belt.
If he’d have had a strong weekend, I think he would have stuck to his original schedule, but he’s now considering an extra event because he did play poorly.
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Rory McIlroy opened his final round at The Players with a clumsy double-bogey and also made another double at the par-three 13th, dropping him further down the leaderboard
The Texas Children’s Houston Open would be the obvious one rather than the Valero Texas Open, because of its success in helping him prepare for what he did at Augusta last year.
There’s a lot that goes around with defending that title as we know, so he may well have to come on-site earlier than what he would normally do. He will have more obligations than usual.
It’s tough to defend at The Masters with a lot of distraction going on and the responsibilities of being the defending champion. That includes hosting the dinner on Tuesday night, which will be a milestone in his career, to do it in front of all his peers in golf.
Rory McIlroy will turn his attentions to The Masters, following his title defence at The Players
Work to do for McIlroy ahead of The Masters?
Although he drove it well at The Players, the rest of his game was not at the races compared to the high levels that he normally has. His putting has just been awful this week, with him second-last in putting of the guys who made the cut.
His iron seems to be better from what we saw over in California, but he did lose ground this week and probably a little bit of confidence after some good underlying play in the tournaments in the Middle East and California.
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Highlights from the final day of The Players, where Cameron Young shot a four-under par 68 to win at TPC Sawgrass
You can put not putting well down to the Poa Annua greens during the early-season events in California, but he would be concerned that he didn’t find his putting boots at either Bay Hill or TPC Sawgrass.
Those two are both courses and greens that are very similar to the greens that he practices on in Palm Beach and has putted well on historically in the past. The fact that it may create some extra doubt is something else to consider in preparation for Augusta.
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Rory McIlroy’s best shots from his historical 2025 Masters victory at the Augusta National Golf Club
What’s next?
The PGA Tour stays in Florida for the Valspar Championship, held at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor. Early coverage begins on Thursday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 6pm.
There’s less than four weeks to go until the opening men’s major of the year, with McIlroy’s title defence at The Masters exclusively live from April 9-12 on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
