Rory McIlroy will return to the haunting Augusta National to bag the elusive Masters as PGA member
After a mind-boggling loss at the Masters last year, young Irishman Rory McIlroy is contemplating to return at the haunting Augusta National to pin the elusive title.
McIlroy revealed bits and pieces of his 2012 schedule and his plans of joining the PGA Tour. He Tweeted that he will be kicking off the PGA with WGC Accenture Match Play Championship at Tucson Arizona.
22-year-old McIlroy will be playing four PGA Tour titles for the year, including the Honda Classic, followed by WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, and will later return to Augusta National.
In order to retain his PGA Tour membership in 2013, McIlroy will have to play one more event on the tour to complete his 15 starts this year.
McIlroy made a U-turn on his previous stand of not joining the PGA Tour right after he ditched the International Sports Management (ISM) and the manager Chubby Chandler.
He showed his likeness for the spectacular PGA Tour courses and when asked why he wants to move to the other side of the Atlantic, he replied:
“I just thought about it. I feel as if my game really suits playing courses over here. You have your favourite events, and most of my favourite events seem to be on this side of the pond. And my game suits it over here. I’m very comfortable over here. I’d like to give it a go again and obviously last more than one year and really see how it goes”.
Andy Pazder, the tour’s chief of operations, expressed his delight over McIlroy’s comments and hoped that the young Ulsterman will finalise his decision sooner than later.
“He has plenty of time to make a final decision, and if it works out that he’s rejoining the PGA Tour, obviously we’re ecstatic about that,” said Pazder.
McIlroy was not allowed to play in at least 10 events on the PGA last year, as he had given up the PGA membership the previous year.
He missed the four WGC events and although he and Englishman Lee Westwood were allowed to return to the Players Championship, both players declined the offer.
McIlroy suffered a disastrous mental melt down in the Masters last year where he threw away his four-shot lead in the final round to finish down the leaderboard.
He played brilliantly over the weekend, leading the event in all the three opening rounds, but fell for the colossal pressure of the final day.
He later went over to pull in a historic victory at the US Open and is one of the favourite bets for the Masters this year.
McIlroy’s decision to join PGA Tour is more likely influenced by Luke Donald’s historic double-dip where he surged to the top of the money lists on both European and PGA Tour’s, marking the unprecedented feat in the history.
World number two Westwood has also shown interest in taking up a full-playing status on the PGA in 2012.
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