From silence to Grand Slam, McIlroy's mind coach reveals Masters plan
Northern Irishman McIlroy ended his long wait for a Masters title with a birdie on the opening hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat England's Justin Rose at Augusta on Sunday.
The 35-year-old also became the first European man to complete a career Grand Slam with the win, with American DeChambeau later revealing that McIlroy did not speak to him at all during the final round.
"That didn't have anything to do with Bryson. That was just the game plan all week and we wanted to get lost in it," Rotella told the BBC.
"We didn't want to pay attention to what anyone else was scoring, or shooting, or swinging or how far they were hitting it -– we just wanted Rory to play his game."
The strategy appeared to pay off as McIlroy edged out Rose after first missing a five-foot par putt at the 18th in regulation that forced the playoff.
"The point is, if you believe you're going to win, just play your game and assume that if you do that anywhere near the way you're capable of, then you will end up number one," Rotella added.
With the Grand Slam complete, Rotella said McIlroy could finally breathe more easily.
"My guess is that he will go on and win quite a few more, I think he's thinking of having a multiple-win season."
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Scotsman
21 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Rangers' rinse and repeat - but now not be good time to break new ground
Nothing else than getting Champions League job done in Plzen will do for Martin and Co Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Stop me if you've read this one before. A Rangers team that continues to fluff its lines domestically at the weekend heads into midweek European competition on the cusp of achieving a positive outcome. Rinse and repeat on the pitch means the same for the poor scribes tasked with covering such erratic behaviour. Rangers continued their stuttering form and performance levels in the Premiership with Saturday's 1-1 draw with Dundee, which already leaves them four points behind defending champions Celtic and an upwardly mobile Hearts. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The boos and jeers that rang around Ibrox after facing Scottish opposition are becoming more and more common. Only a few days previously, Rangers had played some gorgeous football as they dismantled Viktoria Plzen 3-0 at home in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round, on the back of a limp, ham-fisted display in a 1-1 draw at Motherwell. Rangers' Emmanuel Fernandez trains ahead of the trip to Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League qualifier. | SNS Group The second leg of their European tie takes place on Tuesday evening at the Doosan Arena in Plzen. Most observers don't see a way back for the Czech side, who looked one of the most limited Champions League visitors to Scotland for some time. They have played three home games already this season, losing 1-0 to Servette and drawing 1-1 with Jablonec and Slovacko. Plzen were left bereft after losing star midfielder Pavel Sulc on the eve of the Ibrox leg and head coach Miroslav Koubek wore a resigned look afterwards. Rangers certainly had it tougher in the last round against Panathinaikos. Russell Martin's men took a two-goal cushion to Athens despite relying heavily on goalkeeper Jack Butland and saw out the tie 3-1 on aggregate. The Greeks created plenty of chances but could only take one. Plzen didn't even show invention on their sojourn to Glasgow. Perhaps it will be different at the home of pilsner beer and the birthplace of car manufacturer Skoda. This will be their 43rd match in UEFA competition and recently they have made an impact in both the Conference League (quarter-finals in 2023/24) and Europa League (last 16 in 2024/25). The Czechs overcame Hearts in the play-off round last year 2-0 on aggregate, although they looked more functional than flamboyant. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This could be a night for Gassama once again The latter trait will be required in an attacking sense to overcome a three-goal margin, which will suit Rangers, a side that fares much better against offensive, expansive opponents. The pace of Djeidi Gassama, with four strikes already to his name in the Champions League, and new signing Oliver Antman on the flanks caused major issues for Plzen a week ago. Given more space to run into, they could really hurt the hosts. Rangers' feelgood factor of that first leg evaporated on Saturday. One step forward, two steps back for a fanbase struggling to stomach such toils. They lacked energy and vision against Dundee, and gave away too many chances against a team also trying to find its way under a new manager in Steven Pressley. The only crumb of comfort is that even when down to ten men following Nasser Djiga's red card, Rangers found a way to rescue a draw. Resilience hasn't been a problem recently for them in Europe. The core of this squad has recently gone to places such as Istanbul, Nice, Athens (twice) and Malmo and got the job done. If reverting to type, Rangers will do the same again and set up a play-off tie with either Club Brugge or Salzburg.
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Rangers warned over Plzen approach as Ibrox stars told 'we have to be ready for everything'
Russell Martin and his troops hold a 3-0 lead but go into the game off the back of more dropped points domestically Three goals to the good and just 90 minutes away from the Champions League play-offs, some Rangers players might be forgiven for thinking they are heading into the clash with Viktoria Plzen with the pressure off. Russell Martin insists they should think again. His team may have taken a huge step towards securing a multi-million pound final eliminator for European football's top tournament with their 3-0 win last week, but they stumbled two back domestically with yet another dismal display in Saturday's Dundee draw. And for that reason alone, the scrutiny on this new Light Blues line-up will be as intense as it has been at any stage this summer since Martin arrived looking to rip up the Ibrox playbook and install his own bold vision. 'No would be the word,' said the new Ibrox coach when asked if the pressure levels would be lower on Tuesday at the Doosan Arena in Plzen. 'We play for a club where you can't ease off ever. 'We've got a sold out away end and it's a big night for us after being a bit disappointing on Saturday with a few things. 'Hopefully we'll see some stuff that we didn't do well enough come out and do it better and then bring lots of the stuff from the first leg that we brought to the party at Ibrox. 'So no. It's my job on the training pitch to not come off the players one bit at any point. Even when we get into a flow and it starts looking really brilliant, which I'm convinced it will be at some point. 'It's my job to make sure we stay on them all the time, to keep growing. 'And tomorrow night is just a part of that. So, there's no easing, there's no talking about that at all. It's about coming here to try and win a game.' For the longer-serving members of the Gers squad, the sights and sounds of a toxic Ibrox are nothing new. But for the nine fresh faces who have arrived over the past six weeks, Sunday was their first taste of the Govan grumbles. It remains to be seen if the new recruits react better than the teams of old who repeatedly buckled under the weight of expectation. But Martin certainly thinks his men will be better for Saturday's shock to the senses. 'I think everyone has a different experience,' he said. 'We've got guys coming from the Premier League, the Championship, from different leagues, and it's different for everyone. 'Also, it's different in different positions with the expectation and all this stuff. 'First and foremost, it definitely helped us in terms of quality and character every day of training. "I don't think we expected anyone to be 9/10 out of 10 every game, especially so early on in the process. 'This would literally be the last bit of pre-season right now if we were working down the road that we'd been used to, so they've been thrown in at the deep end for sure. 'I think they've done great, really well. 'I think they'll grow into the season, they'll grown into being in this club, they've worked out already what the expectations are. 'They've had a brilliant night, or a couple in Europe already. They've also had a few tough moments in the league. 'So I don't think they've had a better preparation for becoming Rangers players, they've experienced every bit of it already. "But they're really resilient. They have a lot of character, they're really good players first and foremost and they're really going to help us over the course of the season. 'There's way more to come, the more they get used to what we're asking them to do. 'Tomorrow night gives us another chance to really show what we can bring onto the pitch.' Rangers started slowly again on Saturday and were then left playing catch-up with 10 men as Steven Pressley's side snatched a lead. Gers finally dragged themselves level late on but it was yet another afternoon when the Light Blue legions accused their team of wasting time by failing to strike out with purpose and intent from the off. It's an accusation that has been levelled at successive line ups. But Martin said: 'I think it's a really easy fix. 'We have a really clear process. We have to learn from everything whether we win, we draw. 'The guys haven't been beaten in five games, and there's a few really tough games in there. 'So they showed a real mentality to not get beaten with 10 men. 'But there's some real key fundamentals there against a team that were sitting a bit lower, a bit deeper in defence. 'They defended well in numbers. 'But we have to do a lot more to disrupt, especially early in the game, because if you score early in the game, it changes the context of the game completely. 'For us, we're doing it differently to the previous manager and the previous manager before that. 'Everyone comes with their own ideas. 'It was the first time we had a chance to come up against that, and we'll be better for it. 'That's what we have to do. We have to learn and improve. So, I'm convinced that will happen.' Tomorrow, however, the onus will be on Plzen to take the initiative after Djeidi Gassama's double and Cyriel Dessers' penalty put Gers firmly in control of the third round qualifier last week. 'Goals change ties and games, so we have to start the gamer really well ourselves,' said Martin. 'They have, I guess, a nothing-to-lose approach. So, we have to be really ready for that. "If we have a setback in the game, which is not part of the plan, we have to respond in the way we did against Panathinaikos. 'I loved the way the players responded to that. And I really enjoyed the way the players responded to going down to 10 men on Saturday. 'There are showing togetherness. They have to keep growing, keep building. The spirit has to keep growing and building. 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Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Russell Martin discusses Rangers postponing St Mirren game
The Ibrox side face Viktoria Plzen in a crucial Champions League qualifier second leg and if victorious, they could delay the Paisley trip. The St Mirren clash, scheduled for August 24, would sit between the two-legged play-off against either Red Bull Salzburg or Club Brugge. A new SPFL rule allows clubs to delay one league game if it falls just before a European tie, to aid preparation. It was expected Rangers would use this for the Buddies game, to boost their chances of making the Champions League. However, Rangers manager, Russell Martin, indicated this might not happen. In a press briefing, Martin said: "Well, no decision's been made either way. "I think the plan has always been to play the game unless, depending on what happened on Tuesday, if we get through this and all that stuff. "So it's been flexible. "But our league table this early on will not dictate what we do with a game, honestly. "At the minute I expect we'll play it and if that changes because of whatever reason we feel it will help us... we have to win this game tomorrow first as well. "So we'll see." Rangers must first focus on winning the match against Viktoria Plzen before making any decisions regarding the St Mirren fixture.
