McIlroy hoping to put strong display at first Palmer tournament ahead of Masters

Northern Irish golf ace Rory McIlroy is hoping to put up a strong display at his first Arnold Palmer Invitational before he looks to complete a career Grand Slam at the Masters next month.

McIlroy got off to a strong start in 2015with a runner-up finish on the European Tour in Abu Dhabi followed by a win in Dubai, but he missed the cut at the Honda Classic and finished equal ninth at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, in his first two US PGA Tour starts of the year.

The world number one golfer claimed that it is important for him to play well at Arnold Palmer Invitational; to get into contention and just feel what it is like, the final event before going into Augusta, adding that just feeling something on the last day and the back nine in contention, having a chance to win, Sport24 reported.

McIlroy, who has never played Palmer's tournament at Bay Hill before, would be seeking a third straight major title at Augusta National in April and attempting to complete a career Grand Slam.

The Northern Irishman knows that he'll be in the spotlight at Augusta, but insists that won't put extra pressure on him. He said that he has got a chance to go to Augusta and do something very few players in this game have done before, so he admitted that that adds a little bit of spice to it, but he doesn't feel any extra pressure.

McIlroy said that he feels the extra attention, but added that there is no extra pressure on this side going into Augusta this year.