AUGUSTA, Ga. — There’s just one method to earn a inexperienced jacket at The Masters, however there are 100 methods to lose one. Rory McIlroy is on his method to discovering all of them.
The quickest method to lose the Masters, after all, is to overlook the minimize, which Rory has performed in two of the final three years. You might play an ideal spherical of golf when another person is enjoying distinctive golf, as in 2022 (McIlroy completed second to Scottie Scheffler) and 2020 (McIlroy completed T5 behind Dustin Johnson). You might begin the day within the closing pairing and fade, as he did in 2018 towards Patrick Reed. After which, after all, you may detonate on the ultimate 9 holes, the way in which McIlroy did so catastrophically in 2011.
McIlroy carries the hopes and desires of a complete swath of the golf fanbase on his shoulders each time he tees it up on the Masters. The dialog on the grounds at Augusta Nationwide all the time runs like this: I believe [current hot player] goes to win, however I’d wish to see Rory win.
“No query, he’ll do it in some unspecified time in the future,” Tiger Woods mentioned on Tuesday. “Rory’s too proficient, too good. He’s going to be enjoying this occasion for a really very long time. He’ll get it performed. It’s only a matter of when.”
No strain, Rory.
When the Masters is at hand, McIlroy veers between cautious pessimism and affordable optimism. As an illustration, he known as Woods’ assumption of his probabilities “flattering,” however simply as shortly downplayed it. “Does that imply that it’s going to occur? Clearly not.”
Then, within the very subsequent breath: “He’s been across the recreation lengthy sufficient to know that I at the very least have the potential to do it. I do know I’ve obtained the potential to do it, too. It’s not as if I haven’t been a reasonably good participant for the final couple of a long time.”
If you’ve fallen brief as many occasions as McIlroy has at Augusta, you’ve tried and discarded any variety of pre-tournament methods. He’s visited forward of time, he’s toggled between resting and enjoying the week beforehand.
This 12 months, he consulted with swing guru Butch Harmon. He performed final week on the Valero Texas Open to attempt to preserve his thoughts off the second. He rolled into Augusta on Tuesday nearly a half-hour earlier than his scheduled media look. Most of all, he’s trying to deliver serenity to a course designed to wreck it.
“This golf course will get you to chase issues a little bit greater than different golf programs, in case you make a bogey or in case you get your self out of place, as a result of it all the time tempts you to do one thing you assume you are able to do,” McIlroy mentioned. “I’m fairly assured in my golf recreation. I believe I can do most issues, however typically you simply must take the conservative route and be a little bit extra disciplined and affected person.”
Moments later, the usually loquacious McIlroy was out the door after barely 10 minutes on the podium. The event beckons. There’s no extra want to speak about it.
