Rory McIlroy will fine tune his Masters plan in Texas next week – after just making the cut at the Houston Open by one shot.

The Ulsterman entered the Texas Open with just half an hour to spare having previously decided not to play the week before Augusta.

Worried by his topsy-turvy form in Houston, McIlroy and his coach Michael Bannon opted to take up the entry for the Texas Open and play the week before the first major of the year.

He made the decision after scraping into the last two rounds of the Houston Open by just one shot after a 70 on Friday followed his opening round 73.

The Irishman will still travel to Haiti between the Texas and Augusta tournaments in his role as a UNICEF ambassador.

McIlroy has only played 10 competitive rounds in a difficult start to 2013 and this is the first cut he has made.

He said after Friday’s second round at Redstone: “I needed to go out there and shoot a decent score to make sure I was in for the weekend.

“I played the last few holes really well when I needed to. It was a little better. It was an improvement on yesterday, which is the main thing.

“It’s a weekend where I can have a couple more rounds and try and get confidence. It’s more a mental thing than a mechanical thing at his point.”

McIlroy will now use the weekend at Houston and the tournament at Texas to prepare for the Masters.

He added: “As I said, no one likes missing cuts and especially when it’s my last one before the Masters.

“It’s nice to have another couple of rounds, do some work on the range this afternoon and hopefully improve on the course that I’ve already done.”