Rory McIlroy will tackle Jordan Spieth on the greens

Northern Ireland’s world No 3 is trying out a new method to try to improve his putting stroke as he tries to take back top billing from the American with the first major of the season approaching next month at Augusta

(Getty Images)

It is not quite the nuclear option. Nevertheless, a changed putting grip is the necessary acknowledgement by Rory McIlroy that if he is to overhaul Jordan Spieth and resume his station as the world’s finest golfer, his work on the greens must improve.

Off the tee, where his length and accuracy are the envy of the sport, he has barely an equal. If he could putt like Spieth, goes the saying, McIlroy would be Tiger Woods circa 2000. Today at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami, McIlroy puts his new technique to the test in the most exacting company.

An Instagram posting shows the world No 3 practising with his left hand below his right in an attempt to reduce the influence of the right hand in the stroke. “It’s a drill. I’ve putted a lot just with my left hand. It’s one of those things where the drill started to feel a bit better than the real thing, so I’m just going to stick with it,” McIlroy said.

At least there is no cut to miss this week. How counter to the celebratory narrative that attends McIlroy and Spieth that both should be grateful for the guarantee of weekend golf at the first World Golf Championships event of the year.

McIlroy missed the cut by one at the Honda Classic last week on the back of 58 putts. Spieth met the same fate the week before at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. Spieth might even lose his world No 1 ranking should he finish outside the top 10 around Doral’s Blue Monster and No 2 Jason Day triumph. All of which demonstrates the ephemeral nature of form and the monumental effort required to retain your position at the top of the pile.

Spieth, McIlroy and Day open the tournament together in a Hollywood three-ball that at the start at least will command all the attention. But the form of past Masters champions Bubba Watson, winner last time out at the Northern Trust, and Adam Scott, last week’s pot-bearer at the Honda, illustrates the spread of power in the game a month before the first major of the season at Augusta.

The Cadillac does not want for prestige. The 66-man elite field boasts the best players in the world, each of whom has all four days to shoot for the stars. Yet at this time of year even the best events are subsumed within the wider chatter that is generated by the Masters.

Spieth’s profile changed overnight 11 months ago when he took possession of a green jacket at just 21. The man who placed it across his shoulders, Watson, gained a new respect with a second victory, two years after his first, in 2014, at the expense, incidentally, of a 20-year-old Spieth.

McIlroy is defined almost as much by his lack of a green jacket as he is by the four majors he has won. The Masters is the only major missing from his resume, a painful irony since it might have been his first. The meltdown of 2011, when a four-shot overnight lead on the final day disintegrated over the back nine, retains all its potency five years on, such was the cataclysmic nature of the collapse.

The sense that a dramatic episode is never far away is part of the McIlroy construct. Whether good or bad, outcomes, it seems, are likely to be epic in scale. His game is not far away. It is around the greens where he has struggled, which prompted the change in approach to the cross-handed, left-below-right grip.

“I feel like it’s something I’m going to stick with regardless of what the outcome is tomorrow or this week or next week,” he said. “I really do feel like it helps me put a stroke on it that I want to. It’s a great feeling. I feel like it gives my putting stroke a bit more of a better rhythm as well – a better flow.”

McIlroy is not the only one seeking the ultimate ranking. The Dubai Desert Classic winner, Danny Willett, who played alongside McIlroy in the 2007 Walker Cup, has risen to 15th in the world and is minded to go all the way.

“There’s only one place that everyone up there wants to be. If they’re not, then more fool them,” said Willett, who is grouped with Brandt Snedeker and Hideki Matsuyama today. “That’s what you work hard for,” the Englishman added. “I don’t work hard to try and finish average. You work hard to try and win. Fortunately enough I’ve been able to do that and hopefully I can continue.”

As well as trying to conquer the world, Willett is about to welcome a little Willett into it. His wife is due to give birth during the Masters, a tournament he is prepared to skip should nature not conform to his schedule.

“Hopefully we have a nice, easy, smooth, early birth and I can get out there, even if I fly out Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s one of the tournaments you don’t want to miss. But if she has not given birth, I’ll not go. It’s too far to get back. You can’t get back in time. There’s plenty more Masters.”

Not for Tiger Woods, perhaps. Following a spate of negative reports relating to his fitness, Woods addressed the issue in a positive post on his website. He has twice had back surgery since his last competitive outing seven months ago but after tentative chipping contests with his seven-year-old son, Charlie, he reiterated his intention to return to the game.

“I am starting to feel a lot better,” said Woods. “I have been chipping and putting at home, and recently started hitting nine-irons. That’s been so nice. My son Charlie and I compete in just about everything and have three-hole chipping contests. The loser has to do push-ups. My short game feels pretty sharp.

“The big thing now is trying to get stronger and more flexible. Sitting out as long as I did, some weakening occurred. I have a lot of work ahead of me. While there is no timetable on my return to competitive golf, I want to play this game at the highest level again. To do that, I have to get healthy.”

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FORM GUIDE - THE TOP FIVE

Jordan Speith

Northern Trust: Missed cut

Pebble Beach: T 21st

Singapore Open: 2nd

Jason Day

Pebble Beach: T 11th

F’mers Insurance: Missed cut

Hyundai Tournament: T 10th

Rory McIlroy

Honda Classic: Missed cut

Northern Trust: T 20th

Dubai Desert Classic: T 6th

Bubba Watson

Northern Trust: 1st

Pebble Beach: T 70th

Phoenix Open: T 14th

Rickie Fowler

Honda Classic: 6th

Phoenix Open: 2nd

F’mers Insurance: Missed Cu