Rory McIlroy Holds Incredibly Short Masters Press Conference In What Seems To Be Another Preparation Shakeup

In the lead-up to this year's Masters, Rory McIlroy has made it clear that his tournament preparations largely revolve around avoiding Augusta National as much as possible. Two days from the opening round of the year's first major, and so far so good.

McIlroy will be making his 16th career appearance at the Masters this week in what will be his 10th attempt at winning a green jacket to complete the career grand slam. In other words, McIlroy has been there, done that, and may understandably be a bit tired of hearing about his quest for the slam.

For just the second time since 2014, McIlroy teed it up in the PGA Tour event the week prior to the Masters, where he finished solo third. On top of that wrinkle, McIlroy elected not to arrive to Augusta National until Tuesday afternoon. 

Shortly after arriving on property, he made his way to the media center for his scheduled pre-tournament presser, but got in and out of there faster than ever before.

McIlroy's press conference was scheduled to begin at 12:30 PM ET, but according to Masters media, it began four minutes early. A four-minute difference isn't wildly out of the ordinary, but the moderator completely skipping over traditional opening remarks that typically take up a couple of minutes is strange, and they immediately opened the floor to questions.

READ: For As Much As It May Feel Like A Must-Win Masters For Rory McIlroy This Year, It Isn't

As for how many questions McIlroy was asked, that number would be eight, and he was out of the room by 12:33, just three minutes after the presser was scheduled to begin.

The time spent in the media center has absolutely no bearing on how McIlroy will perform this week, but the entire situation that unfolded is very out of the ordinary for the four-time major winner.

Typically, the media cannot get enough of McIlroy, and vice versa. His early arrival followed by an immediate jump into questions doesn't feel like a coincidence, but instead a designed move from McIlroy that checks out with other purposeful pre-tournament steps.