Rory McIlroy has reduced the size of his entourage, as he hopes to find the winning formula at Augusta National. Speaking about his preparation for the tournament, McIlroy said:

“I think everyone feels the same about The Masters as it’s the one tournament everyone wants to go to.

“But this year I’m trying to cut that back and not have such a big entourage around me and not too many people there.”

McIlroy’s forms of preparation have greatly varied for Augusta. He has gone from playing in the par 3 contest with celebrity partner to not playing at all, from playing lots of practice golf on the course to very little on a year-to-year basis.

When asked how he is before the tournament on the eve of last year’s Masters, he said: “I’m a complete p— in the week leading up to Augusta.

“I am probably not much fun to be around, they (his friends and family) understand and know that. It’s a stressful situation.”

Some might say that McIlroy has never exorcised the demons of 2011. In terms of his career, he made a definitive statement in the very next major, winning by eight shots at the US Open. But his best performance at the Masters is still that fourth-place finish in 2015.

The pressure for McIlroy to win the Masters has generally ended up being overwhelming. This was the case in 2015, when he came into the Masters having won the previous two majors, and with a win under his belt that year at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

McIlroy played tentatively at the beginning, and only started playing his best golf when relieved of the pressure, shooting 10 under for the final two days to finish fourth, outscoring champion Spieth by six shots at the weekend.

Is this year where McIlroy brings it all together? A best-ever putting performance at the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational, +2.507 Strokes Gained: Putting for the week, inspires much confidence, but McIlroy also needs to find the range with his irons and wedges, because being in the wrong position kills you at Augusta.

Paul McGinley described Rory as the “smartest kid in the class, but with a tendency to daydream.” It is time to see a focused Rory to show that he has that extra level, and secure his first major in three and a half years.