Men only want one thing and it’s….. Rory McIlroy in a green jacket in April.
Is Rory McIlroy morphing into Phil? Was the outrageous chip and run on the 18th at Sawgrass his Mickelson moment from the pine straw on 13 at Augusta in 2010?
McIlroy ranked 79th in strokes gained off the tee and he was 140th in driving accuracy in the 144 player field on the opening day of the Players Championship.
New equipment or old equipment, the high right shoulder post impact plagued his first round. Yet he still shot 67 to lie one shot off the overnight lead.
To boost that encouraging stat, McIlroy was third in strokes gained approach and ninth in putting. Two key elements needed at Augusta National.
One can’t help but think ‘well if he can shoot 67 playing poorly imagine what he could do at Augusta after three weeks away to sort the driver?’
We are all thinking it but you dare not say it out loud. Like Voldemort’s name.
A Rory McIlroy jaunt at the Green Jacket at Augusta is something we equally desire and fear that we are so reluctant to allow our minds to consider the matter in case we set ourselves up to be hurt again.
The four-time major winner has played well for most of the year. Winning a Signature Event in statement fashion at Pebble Beach while he also contended at the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines before a sloppy Sunday ended his chances.
Bay Hill last week was an experiment with new equipment that didn’t work but what was most encouraging about McIlroy’s round of 67 at the Players on Thursday is that he had nowhere near his A-game.
The best driver in the game, a player whose laid the foundations for his game on the driver, hit just four fairways on a very difficult golf course to play from the rough and the trees yet is still in contention.
It’s a mantra he must bring to Augusta next month because if he can grind out rounds in the 60s playing poorly around Amen Corner then it could be the missing ingredient to finally end his Masters hoodoo.
Despite having seven top-10s at the Masters, never has he truly had a chance to slip into a Green Jacket heading to Amen Corner on Sunday – although he has tried to manufacture outside opportunities, 2022 the case in point.
The Cheltenham Festival has been rife with favourites falling and false starts and slow starts have proven fatal for McIlroy at Augusta National.
The35-year-old has opened with rounds of 73, 75, 76, 73 and 72 in five of his last six Masters outings to leave himself with a mountain to climb only to do what has now become his trademark and ‘reverse into a top-10.’
Only twice has he shot in the 60s during the opening round (2011 and 2018) and they turned out to be his best chances to win a first Masters title.
Three rounds in the 60s on Friday have followed also. McIlroy is understandably iffy coming to Augusta, the pressure only ramps up as the years go by when he drives up Magnolia Lane but if he can take what he did at Sawgrass on Thursday and bring it to Augusta then he could change the story.
McIlroy has also been prone to costly stretches that have been brought about by the pressure of not getting off to a good start on Thursday.
The stats show that a good start is crucial.
Since 2005, only one player – Tiger Woods in 2005 and 2019 – has been outside the top-10 after the first round and gone on to win the Masters.
McIlroy played poorly at Sawgrass on Thursday but he was bold at the same time and he showed an ability to grind out a score in a big event and it’s not for the first time this season.
McIlroy’s ability to graft and grind in the tough conditions has often been questioned but a sensational third round of 65 in cold, wet and windy conditions at Pebble Beach helped propel him to victory on Sunday.
The weeks leading up to the Masters are often rife with speculation on McIlroy’s pre-Augusta performances and how will he schedule events in the run in. It’s long felt that he needs to be playing well heading to Augusta or tucked away a trophy or two earlier in the season.
But McIlroy is showing his mettle at Sawgrass, a golf course he has a very mixed record on and it’s that mettle he will need to show at Augusta, a golf course that has also been prone to spitting him out.
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