Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy? In his wildest dreams as a young golfer, even when holing putts he visualised as being for the Masters, McIlroy could not have predicted multiple opportunities to join such illustrious company before the age of 30. That quintet are the only players to win all four majors.
Amid preparation for his fifth tilt at the one so many presumed would come easiest to him, McIlroy’s remonstrations that joining the pantheon is the farthest thing from his mind have been exemplary. If, at 29, he is to don the Green Jacket it will be the product of a mentality that now sees the big picture. McIlroy seems no longer weighed down by expectation.
The prevailing sense is that people want McIlroy, who has endured his share of tortuous moments in this Toy Town of golf, to triumph. A decade since his first professional win, he is the clear favourite. It forms part of the sport’s need, as it battles for relevance and grasps for a modern identity, to benefit from a current player who has created history.
As Augusta’s azaleas have come into bloom so has McIlroy’s game; some top‑five finishes paled into insignificance when he won the Players Championship last month. The style of victory – tenacious – was Nicklaus-esque.
More significantly it justified a change in McIlroy’s ethos, which has been portrayed as various forms of zany when in reality it makes perfect sense. The most naturally gifted golfer, the player with attributes even his contemporaries are envious of, has not returned a major win since 2014; the alteration of his mindset was altogether logical.
The world No 3, an autodidact to a large extent, has sought external advice that will fully be put to the test only should he find himself in the box seat – or close to it – by the back nine on Sunday. What can be said with certainty is McIlroy arrived in Georgia as the form player of 2019.
The Masters is a statistician’s dream. Numbers relating to every element – some relevant, many less so – are available at every turn. From 38 Masters rounds, McIlroy is a combined 11 and 35 over on par threes and fours respectively. Profit has arisen on par fives, where his record is an aggregate of 61 under.
Golf is not played on spreadsheets but should McIlroy tidy up his performance on shorter holes while remaining better than proficient on the 2nd, 8th, 13th and 15th, then he will be tough to beat.
When never entirely giving the impression of being at the peak of his powers McIlroy has finished fifth, seventh, 10th, fourth and eighth at Augusta since 2014. While accustomed to first-round afternoon starting times, a morning tee time this year affords McIlroy the chance to lay down a marker, a subtle but possibly meaningful point. Hauling back a front-running McIlroy in majors has historically proved akin to scaling an ice wall in slippers.
Augusta was battered by rain in the early part of the week and it should play into McIlroy’s hands, although he is not alone in that respect. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas, powerful hitters with recent major success to settle any lingering nerves, would also have smiled as the heavens opened.
The Masters buildup is more fevered than other majors because of a long lead-in time. The final putt dropped at the US PGA Championship on 12 August. Events of the following month added to an excitable Masters preamble as Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship at East Lake. On Wednesday, and unprompted, Nicklaus endorsed the Masters claims of a rejuvenated Woods. “I have never seen Tiger quite this confident,” he said. “I played with him three weeks ago, he shot the easiest 64 I’ve ever seen.”
A Woods win at 43, given his recent physical turmoil, would usurp the then 46-year-old Nicklaus’s victory of 1986. Nicklaus did not give the impression he would be bothered. “You have as deep a field as you’ve ever had,” the 18-times major champion said. “To say there is a clear favourite? I don’t think so.”
Danny Willett and Sergio García delivered consecutive, long overdue, Masters victories for Europe from 2016. McIlroy aside, the continent has strong claims this year via Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Paul Casey, Jon Rahm and Francesco Molinari. “If you are not on your game at Augusta, you are going to pay for it,” said Molinari, the Open champion.
To the victor, just short of $2m. In the case of McIlroy, golfing immortality, too. We are not in the domain of now or never but this feels like his finest chance.