1 week Ago By Mark Donlon
Rory McIlroy is one Masters Sunday away from securing a career Grand Slam – and the eyes of the golfing world are firmly fixed on him today.After enduring a wobbly opening round at this year’s tournament at Augusta National Thursday, McIlroy came roaring back into contention in fine style with Friday’s second round 66 before Saturday brought even more heroics as he sealed a two shot lead heading into the final day. He goes into Sunday’s action in prime position and looks to be at the peak of his physical powers as he pursues the major which eludes him.
Here, we take a look at the diet and exercise regimen powering McIlroy on the course.Rory McIlroy has been in blistering form in 2025 and claimed the Players’ Championship last month. Pic: David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesExamining his physical journey parallel to his progress on the golf course, in 2023 McIlroy went into the details of why a physical change was needed for gains on the links.
While he was flexible off the tee, some raw power was lacking – causing plenty of unwanted movement in his swing that caused hypertension and ultimately led to wholesale dietary changes aimed at beefing up.‘I had to up my protein intake quite a bit,’ McIlroy told GOLF.com.
‘I’d eat a gram of protein per pound of body weight.Rory McIlroy hiked his daily protein intake to 170g in order to add muscle. Pic: Christian Petersen/Getty Images‘I still do that, 170 grams per day of protein.
’Having made the move to a coeliac diet, McIlroy also cut pork and eggs out of his diet altogether as they didn’t “agree with my body”. He also cut chocolate and ice cream down to “every once in a while”. Supplementing his stricter diet is a whopping gym routine, with McIlroy taking to the weight room more regularly now compared to his early days at the top end of the game.
Rory McIlroy will be desperately eager to secure his career Grand Slam with victory at The Masters on Sunday. Pic: Brendan Moran/SportsfileBeginning with light jogging, lunges, and rotational squat jumps as a warm-up, McIlroy then focuses on deadlifts, pull-ups and planks before moving on to dumbbell work and completing additional lunges.Medicine ball rotations are then completed to improve flexibility; the core pieces of his workout routine are repeated three times, while the medicine ball work calls for 10 repetitions on each side.
Rory McIlroy and wife Erica Stoll as loved up as ever during Masters embrace It is certainly a formula which seems to be working and with two wins already posted in 2025, the red-hot McIlroy could yet be donning the vaunted green jacket by the day’s end.McIlroy (-12) tees off at 7.30pm Irish time this evening alongside the chasing Bryson DeChambeau, who sits two shots back on -10 heading into a mouth-watering finale at Augusta.
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