Rory McIlroy says he has never been in better shape heading into the Masters and is hoping he can live up to all the hype going into the first major of the year.

The Northern Irishman arrives at Augusta National looking to win his fifth major – and his third in a row – and would become only the sixth player in history to complete a career grand slam.

The pressure is on McIlroy, who is the hot 6.00 favourite to win the Masters, but the player says he is in good shape and feeling confident.

“I’ve never been in a better position to contend at Augusta,” world number one McIlroy told reporters.

“My game is in good shape and I feel ready. I’ve got the experience of winning major championships, and I’m coming off the back of two wins last year.

“I couldn’t have put myself in a better place coming into this one. I’ve had really good preparation with my team in Florida, played a lot of golf and shot some good numbers.

“Now it’s a case of playing the course and being as comfortable as I can out there. I can’t wait for Thursday, to get out there and try and do what I’ve been thinking about for eight months.

“There’s a lot of guys in this field I’ve beaten before, and I can’t see why I can’t do that around here. It’s a matter of putting myself in that position, that’s all I’m trying to do.

“If I can execute my game plan, that should give me the opportunity in a few days’ time to slip on a Green Jacket.”

Jordan Spieth is second favourite heading into the tournament and is priced at 11.00, with Bubba Watson 12.00, Jason Day 13.00 and Dustin Johnson at 16.00.