Rory McIlroy bullish as thoughts turn to Augusta

Rory McIlroy believes he is heading to that "little place in Augusta, Georgia" with a tonne of positives and his game in fine fettle.

The Holywood world No 3 came up shy in the WGC Match Play in Austin Texas, losing his semi-final to Cam Young despite being two up with three holes to play, but he was 6-1 for the week, made 44 birdies and two eagles and will use the down time this week to rest up and analyse what he needs to win a maiden Masters.

"I'm going to maybe go up there for a day and mess around," he said. "I was already up there last week. Don't think there's any harm in going up again. I don't think I need tonnes of practice. I think my game's in really good shape, so just keep it ticking over and work on the shots that I need for Augusta National.

McIlroy ditched his mallet-style putter that he's relied on for four years, switching to a blade face, and also replaced the shaft on his driver - opting for a shorter version with more whip. 

"I drove the ball a lot better this week compared to the Players. I felt pretty good with the putter and probably better as each day went on, holed some nice putts, so for the first week out I thought both ends of the bag, the driver and the putter, worked pretty well.

"The driver's definitely better. I thought the putter looked pretty good for the most part. I felt like I progressed with the putter as the week went on. The short game was sharp. So all in all I thought most aspects of the game were in good shape. I think next week's about resting, recovering, but then also looking ahead to see what sort of shots I'm going to need for Augusta and sort of work on those. 

"I look at the stats sort of after every week and I'll analyse where my game's good, where it maybe needs some improvement and then I'll sort of marry that to the statistical profile of Augusta National and what I need to do well there and I'll plan my practice for the week and there we go."