Rory McIlroy's preparations for his successful Masters title defense have been scrutinized, but his time spent at Augusta National has been defended as fair. McIlroy became the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters, beating Scottie Scheffler by one shot.
His comments about practicing at Augusta in recent weeks sparked a post-tournament debate on social media and a US sports talk show. However, the golfing community, including Michael Kim and Kevin Kisner, has defended McIlroy's approach. Sky Sports Golf's Nick Dougherty said it's 'not an unfair advantage' and that McIlroy has 'earned the right' to practice at Augusta.
McIlroy had skipped three PGA Tour events before the Masters, choosing instead to practice at Augusta, which he believes aided his success. The debate surrounding McIlroy's preparations has been dismissed as 'nonsense' by Rich Beem, who pointed out that course conditions change significantly before the tournament, limiting the benefits of practice rounds. Dougherty, who made his only Masters appearance in 2008, recalled how Augusta officials allowed him to practice on the course and said that other players could have done the same if they had wanted to.
Michael Kim also backed up Dougherty's claims, stating that he had 'plenty of chances' to play at Augusta ahead of the tournament but chose not to.