Rory McIlroy explained why he paid a visit to Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods’ legendary swing coach, ahead of the Masters.
Tiger Woods is a five-time champion at The Masters with the lowest per-round scoring average in the history of Augusta National Golf Club. Rory McIlroy has accomplished everything on the PGA Tour — except win a green jacket.
Ahead of his always-anticipated start in the 2024 Masters, McIlroy — amid a herky-jerky 2024 season — made a pilgrimage to the desert to visit Butch Harmon, the legendary swing coach who worked with Tiger through his prime. (Harmon, who has also advised Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, and Greg Norman, appears in Season 2 of Netflix’s Full Swing, as Rickie Fowler swings by Las Vegas.)
McIlroy, 34, is ranked No. 2 in the world but doesn’t have a top 1o result in five starts this season. The Irishman has especially struggled with his irons; McIlroy ranks 119th in strokes gained: approach (-0.176). He’s been plagued by tournament-sinking double (and triple) bogeys, often coming off wayward second shots.
“It’s sort of been the same story the last few weeks, sort of struggling with a left miss with the irons,” he told Irish Golfer before the Players. “and it’s hard because the longer clubs, the woods, feel so good, and then the irons don’t really feel that good, so I feel like I’m having to put like two different swings on the woods and the irons at the minute, which is a struggle. But everything else feels pretty good, so if I can get the irons tightened up, I feel like I’ll be in a good spot.”
McIlroy led the Players after Round 1 but quickly faded. He said he went to see Harmon soon after for a “second set of eyes” on his swing. McIlroy doesn’t work with Harmon in an official capacity — Michael Bannon is his official swing coach — but said he’s known Harmon for two decades and has visited him “a number of times.”
At his pre-tournament press conference at the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio — the final tune-up before Augusta — McIlroy said he sought Harmon for his mental guidance, as much as his mechanical expertise.
“If there’s one guy I want to go and get a second opinion from, it’s him,” said the 24-time PGA Tour champ. “After the Players, and struggling through the Florida Swing with my swing and some of the misses I was having with my irons, I just thought to myself, ‘I’m obviously missing something here.’
McIlroy said Harmon mainly reinforced what he was already working on, but doled out the wisdom in a way that “resonated … that hit home with me.”
“It was a really worthwhile trip,” he said.
McIlroy is the biggest driver in golf, but Augusta, famously, rewards poise and variety over power. Iron play is paramount.
