Rory McIlroy at the Masters: A whole new tactic for that one win

Rory McIlroy has achieved almost everything in his golf career. The 32-year-old Northern Irishman has won four majors, 20 PGA Tour victories and 14 European Tour victories. He led the world rankings for 106 weeks. But one success has so far been denied to McIlroy: winning all four majors.

After his triumphs at the US Open in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012 and the British Open in 2014, he is yet to win the US Masters. With the green jacket, he could finally join the most exclusive club in golf, which has just five professionals. Only Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen have made it to the career Grand Slam.

It is surprising that “Rors”, as McIlroy is called, has not been at the top of the Masters of all places. Because the hilly course of the exclusive Augusta National Golf Club seems perfectly suited for his game. Its natural trajectory is the draw, a gentle right-to-left trajectory, ideal for the course where a number of fairways run the same way. In addition, he hits the ball extremely high, a must to stop the ball on the rock-hard greens.

It was never enough for a win

How well McIlroy can act on this course, he already proved as a young curly head in 2011. After the first three days he led the field and went into the final round with a four-stroke lead, but then his performance collapsed and he fell to 15th place. place back. The professional from Holywood, who now lives in Florida with his American wife Erica, remembers that he couldn’t cope with the pressure at the time. In the years that followed, he often played up front: fourth in 2015, fifth in 2018 and 2020.

But it was never enough to win. This year he’s more optimistic about victory though, feels less pressure. “I think maybe I’m at a different stage in my life. Back then, golf was everything,” said McIlroy. Of course it is still important, he emphasizes. But the birth of his daughter in September 2020 changed the view of golf. Family is the focus now. She accompanies the current world number ninth to Augusta.

That’s probably why McIlroy took part in the par 3 contest, where many of the pros’ kids serve as bag carriers and are dressed in little white caddy overalls with their fathers’ names on the back. “If you don’t have kids, the par 3 tournament seems like an afterthought. But when there are kids, it kind of becomes the highlight of the week,” McIlroy said. Due to a thunderstorm, the competition, which is extremely popular with the fans, had to be stopped prematurely on Wednesday.

The golf pro has come up with a whole new tactic for this Masters tournament. He spoke of this major being a chess game in which he had played drafts too aggressively in previous years. “I know that if I play well, I have a chance of winning this golf tournament.” To do that, he has to stick to the game plan, be patient and disciplined.

“It feels like you’re playing very negatively, staying away from problems, not aiming straight for the pin, not being aggressive,” he said. Whether this is the right tactic for last year’s winner Hideki Matsuyama from Japan to finally help him into the green winner’s jacket on Sunday is open to speculation.

A look at the statistics does not bode well. Because only three professional players in the history of this invitational tournament managed to win the Masters for the first time on their 14th participation or thereafter. And the start was only moderate. McIlroy needed 73 strokes on the first day and is tied for 31st place. In front is Sungjae Im with 67 shots.