Rory McIlroy holds the lead at the Masters, but he is not spending his Saturday morning thinking about golf. For him, the key to surviving the anxious wait before a late Saturday tee time is just turning on the tennis, the Monte-Carlo Masters.
It seems the connection between the greats of the two sports with “Masters” actually goes both ways, as McIlroy’s comment comes just hours after Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz publicly rallied behind their compatriot Jon Rahm, cheering for his comeback.
Rory McIlroy Will Watch Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to Distract Him from the Masters Pressure
McIlroy’s third round at Augusta National doesn’t start until Saturday afternoon. That leaves him with hours of free time to sit around and nervously overthink the course. But he chooses to turn on the TV. Monaco is six hours ahead of Augusta, Georgia, so the tennis matches line up perfectly with McIlroy’s Saturday morning.
“I’ll probably try to keep my mind off it,” McIlroy told reporters. “That distraction is usually a good thing for me, especially with, yeah, the tee time and the lead. So, yeah, it’s actually two really good semifinals at Monte-Carlo in tennis. So I’ll watch that. I think it’s Sinner and Zverev, and Vacherot and Alcaraz. So I’ll watch those. We’ve been watching the tennis early in the mornings. So I’ll do that. And then hopefully spend some time with Poppy (daughter).”
After beating Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-0 at Monte-Carlo, Alcaraz said that he tried to watch the golf tournament right after finishing the match. He told reporters on Friday about his rush back to the hotel to watch McIlroy, and he made sure to check in on his compatriot’s progress.
MORE: Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal Sympathize With Jon Rahm After Augusta Masters Struggles
The world No. 1 is an avid golfer himself, playing to a respectable 11.2 handicap when he gets time off from the hectic ATP tour. However, he still has a long way to go to catch his idol, Nadal, who is famously a scratch golfer (0.3 handicap) and regularly competes in and wins high-level amateur tournaments in Mallorca.
Sinner, meanwhile, takes a much more relaxed approach to golf. Although he recently went viral for taking impromptu swing tips from Greg Norman, the Italian admits he doesn’t even keep a handicap, as he likes to use the golf course purely as a phone-free escape from tennis. He’s more of an F1 fan, frequently attending Grand Prix on weekends.
Today, in the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters, Sinner will face Alexander Zverev, and Alcaraz will play Valentin Vacherot.
