Rory McIlroy plans final tune-up for Masters at Bay Hill

Rory McIlroy will use his first appearance in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill as his last competitive outing before attempting to complete the career grand slam in the Masters.

McIlroy missed the cut in the Honda Classic on his PGA Tour debut at the start of the month and then hit the headlines for throwing his three iron into a lake at Doral during the WGC-Cadillac Championship, where he went on to finish joint ninth.

The world number one spent part of last week practising at Augusta National with his father Gerry and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as he looks to claim a first green jacket and join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in winning all four major titles.