AUGUSTA, Ga. — Could this be Rory McIlroy’s year at Augusta?
As McIlroy prepares for his 16th Masters Tournament start, that’s certainly something on everybody’s mind as we inch closer to the first round. He landed in Augusta on Tuesday morning before speaking to the press.
The 2022 runner-up has made 12 cuts at Augusta National Golf Club in his career, including six top-10 finishes. Often what comes up is the collapse in 2011, when a Sunday 80 spiraled him out of contention after leading through 54 holes.
Masters: Tournament hub
McIlroy again arrives playing his best golf of the year. He finished third at the Valero Texas Open, highlighted by a Sunday 66. As for this week, he’s hoping to keep his pre-tournament routine as normal as possible.
“I usually try to get into tournaments either Monday nights or Tuesday mornings, and that’s sort of what I’ve done this week,” he said. “I came up here last week to play two practice rounds at the start of the week. So I feel like I’ve already got most of my prep work done. So it’s just about going out there and being relaxed and being in the right frame of mind. And the more I can do that, the more I’ll be able to execute on the golf course.”
Tiger Woods on Rory McIlroy’s chances of winning a Masters Tournament
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shakes hands with Tiger Woods of the United States on the 18th green after they completed a practice round prior to the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 03, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
As he searches for the career Grand Slam, there’s more than a few with confidence that McIlroy can get it done – most notably, a certain five-time Masters champion.
“No question, he’ll do it at some point. He’s just – 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,” Tiger Woods said. “But, yes, I think that Rory will be a great Masters champion one day, and it could be this week. You never know. I just think that just, again, the talent that he has, the way he plays the game and the golf course fits his eye, it’s just a matter of time.”
Of course, this isn’t anything McIlroy doesn’t know already. That said, Woods’ opinions on things around Augusta National are always welcomed ones.
“It’s nice to hear, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game say something like that,” he said. “So, yeah, I mean, does that mean that it’s going to happen? Obviously not. But he’s been around the game long enough to know that I at least have the potential to do it. I know I’ve got the potential to do it too. It’s not as if I haven’t been a pretty good player for the last couple of decades.”
What does Rory McIlroy see differently at the Masters?
Winning the Masters always will (and always has) come down to knowledge of the course and how to navigate it through 72 holes. Much like Woods and others, McIlroy has seen the changes over the years firsthand and is planning accordingly.
“It’s obviously got longer. I would say some of the areas surrounding the greens have become a little sharper,” he said. “So, like, the drop-off after the left side of the 3rd green, for example, that drop-off is sharper. The back right of the 6th green now, that fall-off is sharper. Like there’s a lot of sharpness to the edges of the green compounds that didn’t used to be there, which makes it — the right of the 11th green, which makes it just a little trickier to chip to and just penalizes the misses a little bit more, which ultimately, I think, is a good thing.”
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot in the practice area prior to the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 09, 2024 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
While he’s focused on competing, McIlroy still doesn’t take another chance to tee it up at Augusta National for granted.
“I just drove in probably 30 minutes ago, and, yeah, I think you have to sort of treat this week with the — if I cast my mind back to 18-year-old Rory and I’m driving down Magnolia Lane for the first time, how would I feel and I think, 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,” he said. “Thankfully, I’ve improved a bit since my first start here, and I feel like I’ve got all the tools to do well this week. But, again, to bring those tools out, I think one of the most important things is to enjoy it and smell the — I guess not the roses, the azaleas along the way.”
Like most coming into this week, the theme heading into Thursday is patience.
“With a 72-hole golf tournament, you can be patient, you can be disciplined, and you can stick to your game plan,” he said. “And that’s something that I’ve really tried to learn at this tournament over the years.”
