Rory McIlroy locked in on present in Houston, not future in Augusta

Rory McIlroy insists he's not looking past this week's Texas Children's Houston Open, even with the Masters Tournament coming around the corner.

McIlroy will look to record his third win of the season this weekend when he tees off on Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course. The World's No. 2 golfer is making his first appearance at the tournament since 2014.

"I just want to get a card in my hand and shoot scores and hopefully get myself in contention and try to win another golf tournament," McIlroy said on Wednesday. "It's not as if I'm playing here this week and thinking about two weeks' time. I'm here, I'm in the present, I'm trying to do my best this week and trying to win this golf tournament."

The Masters will be played April 10-13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

McIlroy, 35, began the season with a victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before emerging triumphant in the Players Championship on March 17 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

"I'm obviously playing well, I want to keep playing well, so I think every round you play where you see good things you're sort of filling up that confidence bucket a little bit, so I want to see that," McIlroy said. "I still -- look, it was great to get a win a couple weeks ago but I still feel I could have played a lot better. I tried to poke holes in a lot of my game last week and think about things I could do better, and there were definitely things that I could work on or do better.

"It's a good opportunity to go out and see if some of the work I did at home and I'm continuing to do here, hopefully it's all going in the right direction."

McIlroy has four major titles and 28 career PGA victories on his resume, however he is 10-plus years removed from his last major title after winning four in a four-year span. The Masters is the only prize missing from his career Grand Slam.

--Field Level Media