When Rory McIlroy arrived at Augusta Nationwide’s iconic golf course final yr, he was supremely assured of his probabilities on the Main that has turn out to be an obsession for him.
After capturing 5-under on the second 9 throughout observe the day earlier than the event, the Northern Irishman “actually thought” he was “gonna have the very best Masters” he had “ever had”.
Justified confidence
McIlroy had been rotating the highest spot in golf’s rankings with present World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Spaniard Jon Rahm at that time limit, and was considered one of many favourites going into the Masters — so, his confidence was not misplaced. As a substitute, McIlroy shot 72-77 and missed the minimize at a event that has eluded him for 15 years.
Runner-up by three strokes in 2022 — his greatest end at Augusta — McIlroy is a four-time Main champion. However it’s nearly a decade since his win on the 2014 Open left him needing solely a Masters victory to affix Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Participant and Tiger Woods as the one gamers to realize the profession Grand Slam.
It’s no marvel the 34-year-old as soon as described the Masters because the “last piece of the puzzle”.
The Masters isn’t the one drought McIlroy is searching for to finish. He’s additionally winless on the Majors since his 2014 PGA Championship triumph. So, when he tees off on the 2024 Masters subsequent week, he could have yet one more alternative to conclude two dry spells without delay.
The World No. 2 has been in competition on the Majors throughout this winless stretch — in reality, no different participant has extra top-10 finishes than McIlroy’s 20 throughout this era. Over the past two years, he has 4 top-five finishes and three different top-10 finishes in eight Main tournaments!
“My Main play has positively improved a bit over the previous few years,” McIlroy stated. “I really feel like my sport is extra well-equipped to contend in Main championships extra persistently. Sure I’ve received Main championships in my profession, and I’ve received them by a big margin, however I really feel like my performances in Majors was slightly unstable, whereas now they’re slightly extra constant.”
Final yr’s heartbreak at Augusta was a defining second for McIlroy.
He realised he wanted “a reset”. He didn’t contact his golf equipment for greater than two weeks, went on trip along with his spouse, Erica, and skipped a PGA Tour “designated occasion” regardless that it meant dropping $3 million in bonus cash. “It was like, I have to reassess the place I’m in my life and what’s vital to me and what I have to focus my power on,” he stated.
Engulfed by stress
Whereas the Masters proved to be a tipping level, McIlroy stated it wasn’t his play that prompted him to take a brief break. As a substitute, he stated it was the opposite stresses that had engulfed the PGA Tour, which he was extremely concerned in whereas serving as a participant director for the tour’s coverage board.
He had needed to take care of a wide range of advanced and time-consuming points, together with find out how to greatest deal with the defection of a number of prime gamers to Saudi-funded LIV Golf. An outspoken opponent of LIV, he stated it had been a “tumultuous time”.
“I’ve at all times thought I’ve had an excellent deal with on the place golf suits inside my life,” McIlroy stated. “However I’d overlooked the truth that there’s extra to life than the golf world. So I believe I simply gained slightly little bit of perspective and as soon as I kind of disconnected from it, I might see issues slightly clearer.”
This emergent readability led to McIlroy resigning as a participant director final November so he might focus all his energies on his golf. Having “learnt so much” about himself after lacking the minimize at Augusta final yr, he was capable of put a few of his learnings to make use of earlier this yr.
On the Hero Dubai Desert Basic, McIlroy recovered from being 10 behind on the midway stage to assert a one-shot victory, the most important weekend comeback of his profession.
“I’ve advised this story quite a few instances now concerning the first inexperienced on Friday [at the 2023 Masters], and Brooks [Koepka] was on the eighth inexperienced and I noticed the large leaderboard, and I used to be already 10 behind at that time,” McIlroy stated after his Dubai victory. “I used to be 10 behind after two days this week and ended up profitable the golf event. I really feel like I’ve taken that studying already and put it into observe slightly bit already. Yeah, that’s an enormous factor for me.”
Below scoreboard stress: McIlroy says he generally does issues at Augusta he ‘wouldn’t usually do’ due to what the occasion means to him. Trying on the leaderboard and permitting it to negatively affect his play is without doubt one of the issues he hopes to not do once more. | Photograph credit score: Getty Pictures
The stress of Augusta
McIlroy elaborated on this on the Keep on with Soccer podcast. “The worst factor I did that day was take a look at the leaderboard,” he stated. “At Augusta, I generally do issues that I wouldn’t usually do due to what it’s and the stress. I have to embrace that, as an alternative of shutting away from it. I do know I can win. So the one individual stopping me from doing that’s myself, my ideas… That’s why Tiger [Woods] was so good. He was so sturdy mentally.”
Having had his probabilities at Augusta — he squandered a four-shot lead on the ultimate day of the 2011 event, and has completed within the top-10 on seven events — McIlroy approaches the 2024 version with a revamped mindset.
He has opted for his busiest lead-up to a Masters version. He could have performed in eight occasions earlier than putting his first ball at this yr’s Masters — an effort to be “a bit sharper and know precisely the place my sport actually is”.
The bridge to greatness: McIlroy is aware of what a Masters triumph will imply for his place in golf historical past. ‘I’m on a reasonably sturdy record of gamers who’ve received three of the 4 Majors,’ he says. ‘However I’d wish to be on the shorter record of those that have received all 4.’ | Photograph credit score: Getty Pictures
“I’ve nearly stated all I’ve to say concerning the Masters,” McIlroy advised Golf Digest. “I’d like to win it. If I don’t, I most likely will look again and suppose I missed out on one thing. I did an interview just a few years in the past when the interviewer requested if I felt like I deserved a inexperienced jacket. I don’t deserve something. The sport has given me greater than sufficient. I’ve to go on the market and earn it.
“Individuals can say the course fits my sport all they need, I nonetheless should go on the market and play the golf. I’m on a reasonably sturdy record of gamers who’ve received three of the 4 Majors. However I’d wish to be on the shorter record of those that have received all 4.”