AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 09: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks off the 13th hole during a ... [+]
Rory McIlroy has rarely been described as grim faced. He’s got too nice of a smile and too pleasant of a personality for that description.
But make no mistake, you don’t achieve the success he has without being able to concentrate on the job at hand. This is that kind of all-business week for McIlroy, who begins the Masters focused on completing golf’s Grand Slam.
He’s been trying for a decade now, having won the US Open in 2011, the PGA in 2012 (and ’14) and the Open Championship in 2014. It once seemed a fait accompli McIlroy would slide on multiple green jackets in the Butler Cabin, becoming the sixth player to win the Grand Slam, but the Masters has become for McIlroy what the quest to win an Oscar was for Brad Pitt.
No one has completed the Grand Slam since Tiger Woods won the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews. He joined Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as a winner of all four of golf’s majors, and while Tiger piled up major wins — winning the slam three times over, including once with four consecutive majors — only McIlroy and Phil Mickelson got within one major of a slam.
Mickelson never won a US Open, finishing second six times. The pressure may have gotten to Lefty when he took a one-shot lead to the 72nd hole at Winged Foot in in 2006. He sliced his drive left of the fairway into a hospitality tent, compounded that mistake into a double bogey and lost by one to Geoff Ogilvy.
McIlroy’s story at Augusta National lacks the drama of final-hole heartbreak. He simply hasn’t been able to get himself in position to win since 2011, when he was 21.
This was his Masters to win after going 10 under in the first two rounds, but he collapsed on the back nine on Sunday, shooting 80 to waste a four-shot lead and slide all the way to 15th. He was shellshocked as Charl Schwartzel celebrated a victory no one saw coming.
Woods, among many others, believes it’s only a question of when McIlroy’s talent will allow him to win the Masters. Most oddsmakers list him as the second most likely to win this week, behind only Scottie Scheffler.
“No question, he’ll do it at some point,” Woods said on Tuesday. “Rory’s too talented, too good. He’s going to be playing this event for a very long time. He’ll get it done. It’s just a matter of when.”
McIlroy won in Dubai, Scotland (the Genesis Scottish Open) and South Carolina last year. He defended his title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January and finished second on the DP World Tour the following week, building great expectations for his PGA Tour season. But he hasn’t seriously contended in any of his first six events.
McIlroy did show some fire last week. He spent Monday and Tuesday at Augusta National, getting in some quiet practice rounds, and then placed third at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, albeit nine shots behind Akshay Bhatia and Denny McCarthy. He closed with a six-under 66, gaining 3.72 shots on the field with his approaches and 1.12 shots putting, per the website datagolf.com.
Given his knowledge of Augusta National, where he has played 54 tournament rounds, he wasn’t in a hurry to get on property this week. Reports have him as the last player to officially register on site, arriving shortly before a scheduled session in the press room. He spent 11 minutes in the interview room, taking only seven questions.
McIlroy admits he deals with an internal struggle between prioritizing the Masters and recapturing the happy-go-lucky attitude he had his first few trips around Augusta National.
“If I cast my mind back to 18-year-old Rory and I’m driving down Magnolia Lance for the first time — how would I feel and I think?” he said on Tuesday. “It’s just always trying to go back to being grateful and feeling incredibly lucky that you can be a part of this tournament and you get to compete in it every year.
“I’ve improved a bit since my first start here and I feel I’ve got all the tools to do well this week. But, again, to bring those tools out, one of the most important things is to enjoy it and smell the … I guess not the roses, the azaleas, along the way.”
McIlroy has had six top-10s at the Masters, including a runner-up finish in 2022. But he wasn’t a bigger factor than being the leader in the clubhouse that year, closing with a 64 to finish three shots behind Scheffler, who refused to collapse.
McIlroy has broken 70 in the first round only twice at Augusta National, including only one sub-70 start since his 65 in 2011. He’s been just a tick better in the second and third rounds, with three sub-70 rounds in both. His best play comes on Sunday — seven sub-70s, including a 66 and a 68, in addition to the 64 from two years ago — but he hasn’t positioned himself to capitalize on the strong finishes.
Here’s some good news: At 34, he’s the same age Mickelson was when he won the first of his three Masters in 2004, and still nine years younger than Woods was when he won his fifth Masters. Nicklaus won his sixth Masters at age 46.
Time remains on McIlroy’s side. But imagine how dramatic it would be if he comes to Amen Corner as the leader on Sunday. It’s about time he gave himself a chance to complete the Grand Slam.
