Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his stroke from the No. 11 tee during Round 3 of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Saturday, November 14, 2020.

Rory McIlroy is looking to play himself into Masters winning form as he plays the second of seven events in eight weeks in San Diego before heading down Magnolia Lane.

The Holywood star might not have won for 15 months but like European Ryder Cup skipper Pádraig Harrington, he’s not concerned and happy he’s playing himself right into top form.

“You are always assessing your game with trying to get it in the best possible state for April,” Mcllroy said ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, where he tees it up with Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff (1840 Irish time) looking to improve on Sunday’s third-place finish behind Tyrrell Hatton in Abu Dhabi.

“But I don’t think anything can put you in a better place than playing well at tournaments, getting into contention and winning.

“Winning and being in contention and playing good rounds of golf that’s the best way to prepare for Major championships.”

While 2020 wasn’t the year he wanted, he’s hugely upbeat, adding: “I think the game, it's coming around. It's definitely in a better place than it was a few months ago and I'm feeling pretty comfortable. I'm on a nice run of events coming up here and just nice to see where the game's at after the next couple weeks.”

Harrington reckons McIlroy is ready to “prove a point” this season and secretly hoping he hits top form at Whistling Straits.

“Wouldn't we all like to play as bad as Rory McIlroy, that's just how it is,” Harrington said ahead of this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

“Winning and being in contention and playing good rounds of golf, that’s the best way to prepare for Major championships”

— Rory McIlroy

“He's there every week. You look on and just wish you could have weeks like him because you know plenty of wins are going to come.

“The best period Rory has ever had of not winning is this at the moment. He's there or thereabouts all the time.

“Right, he's not getting it across the line at the very end, but when he does, he'll go on a run and maybe he comfortably could have a run of winning six, seven, eight times in a year.

“And from a Ryder Cup point of view, a little bit selfish, I'm kind of happy to see it… We don't want him burning himself out. We want him fresh and ready to go come September.

“I'm actually very pleased with where he's at. Rory is at his best when he's trying to prove a point or two. Obviously, there's a bit of pressure on him, and there's a bit of media speculation, let's say, and Rory is always at his best like that. So bring it on.”

Tyrrell Hatton of England looks on from the No. 16 green during Practice Round 3 for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, November 10, 2020.

The Ryder Cup was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic but while Harrington has no say in the decision-making process — “It’s above my pay grade” — he’s optimistic it will go ahead this September.

“I know if it does go ahead with full spectators and things like that, it will be a seriously, seriously big party,” he said. “I think the relief for people to get out there and go to a sporting event of that magnitude will be palpable, and I'm sure the players will appreciate it. Maybe I'm being hopeful, but that's exactly what I want to see.”

There are still eight months of qualifying to go but Harrington was impressed by Tyrrell Hatton’s win over McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in Abu Dhabi and he’s already looking forward to having him on the team,

“Tyrrell does seem to have it when he comes under pressure on the big occasions with big players staring him down, like he was going against Rory last week and going against Tommy Fleetwood,” he said. “He's a Ryder Cup Captain's dream, isn't he. That's exactly what you want, a player that has that gumption and can really get it done.

“Even though he's won four times over the last year, they have been nicely spread out and it not flash-in-the-pan stuff. He keeps delivering.”

As for the experienced players currently outside the nine automatic qualifying places, such as Francesco Molinari, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter or Henrik Stenson, he’s pleased to have requested just three wildcards, rather than the six of his opposite number Steve Stricker.

“Giving me six picks would have given me a hell of a headache; I just don't think it would help the morale of the team,” he said. “The more picks you have, the more people you have who think they can make it. If you have eight picks and you have 24 guys in contention, that's 730,000 distinct teams you can to come up with. Everybody is going to second-guess that. Whereas if you have three picks and maybe five people in contention, I think that's maybe 20 different outcomes you can come up with; so there's not as many doubt or second-guessing.

“And you don't want any doubt when you come to your team. You don't want somebody on the team thinking I should have picked somebody else that would have made a good partner for them or something like that.

“You want to narrow down that; my three picks are to build on the nine players who qualify, that's exactly it. I'm not interested in picking the 10th, 11th, 12th best player. I'm interested in picking three players who complement in foursomes and fourball and in attitude.”

Graeme McDowell on the 13th green during the second round at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) in Mamaroneck, N.Y. on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. (Robert Beck/USGA)

Graeme McDowell can still make the team but if he fails to qualify, Harrington looks likely to choose him as vice-captain.

“Graeme was excellent last time, so he would definitely somebody you would have an eye on to be vice-captain,” he said. “He's well respected by his peers, and I think that's very important. You could give Graeme a job and he'd be well capable of looking after players, and the players will be very happy with him being their go-to guy, a kind of mentor-ish role. So he's strong in all departments when it comes to that because he does have the respect of the players.”

As for the recent HBO documentary on Tiger Woods, Harrington is no different to Hatton, Collin Morikawa, Sergio Garcia or Justin Rose, who were also asked about it in recent days. He has no urgency to watch it.

“The good news is I’ve met Tiger, so I don’t necessarily need to see it,” Harrington said. “I know Tiger. I know who he is. I know who he is today, which is really all that matters to me… When I see Tiger now he’s more relaxed. He chats more. He’s not as businesslike as he was. He has mellowed.”

Woods won the US Open at Torrey Pines in 2008 but while McIlroy knows that conditions will be vastly different this week, he still hopes to add to his good memories at a venue where he was joint fifth in 2019 and tied third last year.

“If I can go out and play well and shoot three good scores on the South this week, it will give me some confidence going into June,” he said.

He has no qualms about playing in front of 5,000 fans at next week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open and like Harrington, he’s keen to see fans return as soon as possible.

“I think sometimes the most difficult thing for me without having fans is just sometimes it just felt so casual,” McIlroy said. “You're just out there playing and it's sort of just like playing a practice round. That's been the thing that I've had to get used to, because like I play way better on Tour than I do at home because I have something to focus me. Just getting more in a competitive mode is a good thing.

“The pro-ams I've played on Wednesdays, my pro-am partners are probably like, ‘How has this guy been the best player in the world,’ because you don't have that competitiveness going to bring the best out of yourself. If anything, that was sort of my struggle at the start.

“But as it went on, we got used to it and it's sort of the norm now, but I'm definitely one that's in the camp of welcoming fans back and being excited about it.”