Rory will block out 'noise' of Masters

RORY McIlroy has vowed to block out the "noise" surrounding his latest bid to win the Masters and complete the career grand slam.

- Phil Casey

The noise has been present ever since McIlroy won the Open Championship in 2014 to get within touching distance of joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in golf's most exclusive club.

It has grown louder with every unsuccessful attempt to conquer Augusta National and the volume has been turned up another notch in 2025 thanks to McIlroy's victories in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Players Championship, the first time he has won twice before the year's first major.

"It's just narratives. It's noise," said McIlroy, who revealed his choice of reading this week is a John Grisham novel with the potentially ominous title of The Reckoning.

"It's just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year.