McIlroy targets Masters victory

Rory McIlroy has set his sights on becoming the youngest Masters winner in history.

The Ulster teenager, 19, believes he can challenge for the green jacket when he makes his debut at Augusta National next month.

Asked if he'd be happy just to make the cut, McIlroy said: "You know, I'll be coming in there and probably one of the top 20 players in the world, so you've got to have to think, if you play well enough, you've got a chance to win.

"And that's what my goal is at the end of the week, to play well enough to give myself a chance on Sunday; to have a chance of getting a green jacket."

McIlroy plans to play at Augusta National at the end of the month so that he can familiarise himself with his surroundings before the Masters from April 9-12.

He said: "I think just to get my bearings and know where everything is so that when I get to the course, the Monday of the Masters, I'm not going to be lost and looking for the locker room and looking for where I'm going to eat and stuff.

"Augusta, it's a special place. You watch it on TV and you never really know what it's like, or you hear the stories about it, that it's really hilly, but you don't see it on TV.

"They only started showing the front nine a couple of years ago on TV. Yeah, I mean, I think after The Open Championship, the Masters is probably the second on the list, because that it's over Easter and you got to watch it on TV when you were younger and stuff."

Asked what he was looking forward to most, McIlroy added: "Loads of things. The drive up Magnolia Lane, walking out of the back of the clubhouse and seeing the 18th green, ninth green, first tee box. And I've heard a lot of great things about the Par 3 Course, as well. There's a few things that I'm really looking forward to seeing. Obviously Amen Corner. Yeah, everything. It's going to be great."

McIlroy will be bidding to become the first debutant to win since Fuzzy Zoeller beat Ed Sneed and Tom Watson in the event’s first sudden-death play-off, 30 years ago.

He would be just 19 years, 11 months and eight days if he were to land the title at the first attempt this year and he hopes that playing a practice round with Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara will give him some valuable pointers on how to play the course.

He said: "I played with Mark the first two rounds in Dubai and he said it would be great if we could have a practice round together. I said that would be awesome, because he's obviously a past champion. He said, 'I'll ring Tiger up and see if he wants to play early one morning.'

"I said, 'Yeah, that's great.' It would be nice to get to play with Tiger. I think they have got five green jackets between them."

Asked what he could learn from Woods and O'Meara, McIlroy explained: "You know, just to see how those guys play the course, and where they think the best places are to hit it on the greens. And just, you know, where to miss it and just a lot of strategy because I think that's what Augusta is about. You need to really know where to miss it."

Masters champion Trevor Immelman believes that putting a green jacket on McIlroy next month is not out of the question.

He said: "It's definitely not impossible. Fuzzy Zoeller did it in 1979 and although Tiger (Woods) had played three times as an amateur (it was twice)  it was his first as a pro when he won in 1997.

"Obviously there's going to be a lot of pressure on him and he's going to have feelings that he has not had before mentally and emotionally.

"He has all the physical talents, but a there are a whole host of guys who do and there's a little bit of an X-factor in doing something great in sport.

"Players find that out when the moment arises and time will tell whether he has that little X-factor."