The Northern Irish golfer completed the career Grand Slam with a play-off victory against Justin Rose at Augusta in April but revealed that he got some invaluable advice from sports psychologist Bob Rotella to ease his concerns about a final round showdown with the American – who ended up finishing three shots back.

McIlroy told The Shotgun Start podcast: "I felt like that was going to be the toughest thing I would have to deal with that day, was Bryson himself, and just the way we completely, we're polar opposites in terms of how we approach the game.

"I felt like he'd have a portion of the crowd and I'd have a portion of the crowd, having to deal with that a little bit. I said that to Rotella. We met by the caddie area before I went to the range every day, he said, 'How are you feeling today?' And I said, 'I'm feeling good about my stuff.'"

The five-time major champion added: "I said to him the one thing I'm just uneasy about is the pairing (with DeChambeau). He said, 'Just make him invisible.'

"I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, don't engage, don't look at him, get lost in your own little world. You've got Harry (Diamond, his caddie) beside you, have him be your companion and get lost in that little world. And that's what I tried to do.

"That was the one thing, obviously I felt like that was the biggest impediment between me and winning The Masters that day. Once it was apparent that wasn't going to be the biggest impediment, I made myself the biggest impediment."

Despite the joy of finally winning the Green Jacket, McIlroy has no desire to relive the experience of that Sunday at Augusta.

He said: "I have done a lot of interviews and talked to a lot of people, but there's not one thing of that day that I'd want back."