Six big Masters talking points - part six: Can Rory finally slay his white whale?

Before the PGA Championship moved to May, the wait between ‘Glory’s Last Shot’ and the ‘Tradition unlike any other’ seemed protracted, but with the additional month between the Open Championship and the Masters, it now seems interminable.

If a week is a long time in politics, nine months is a lifetime in golf, but after the sport has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, it’s time to focus on what really matters. That golfing temple in Augusta, Georgia, the history, the drama, the best players in the world coming together and locking horns in the quest for that iconic green jacket, and with it, sporting immortality. As the week-to-week offerings of professional golf continue to underwhelm, certain events transcend to whole new levels. This is it. This is sport. This is the hallowed turf. This is what we’ve all been waiting for. This is the Masters. Amen to that!

Six big Masters talking points

Every year, the Masters throws up more talking points than we’ve pages in this issue to cover. But we’ve narrowed it down to the six biggest as the storied Georgian venue will once again be the green battleground on which dreams are made, on which heroes are crowned, and on which hearts are broken.

Q6. Can Rory Finally slay his white whale?

In the middle of the 10th fairway at Valhalla in the final round of the 2014 PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy had 3-wood in hand, 283 yards to the pin, and ground to make up. Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, playing in the group ahead, were both two shots clear and the reigning Open Champion was one-over on the day. After his low bullet settled six feet from the hole, he strode up the fairway, staring intently at the large scoreboard to the left of the green. He may have been trailing, but not for long. He’d make the eagle putt, of course, birdie another two and go on to win his fourth major championship.

Next up? Augusta National and the career grand slam.

But that’s not the way it’s panned out. Almost 10 years on, the wait continues, and Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm have all been fitted for green jackets since. In six of those nine championships, Rory has finished inside the top 10, but only once has he been in the final group and had the tournament within his grasp on Sunday. That came in 2018 when he was paired with Patrick Reed and despite starting three shots back, had a short putt to tie for the lead on the second hole. He missed, and the wheels came off.

Augusta National has become McIlroy’s white whale. When 21-year-old Rory took a four-stroke lead into the final round in 2011, the course came back to bite him, much like Moby Dick did to Captain Ahab in the Herman Melville novel, but unlike the 19th century masterpiece in which Ahab’s monomaniacal hunt leads to his inevitable death, the final chapter in McIlroy’s quest to slay Augusta has yet to be written.

In many ways, they are a match made in heaven. His effortless power, ability to hit a high draw, deft and criminally underappreciated short game, and tendency to feast on par-5s are four of the primary boxes that require ticking to win at Augusta National. But distance control with the short irons and converting putts from inside 10 feet have often been troublesome, and on a course with the most heavily undulating and challenging greens you’re ever likely to find, those two aspects are a match made in hell.

The irony is that Rory doesn’t need to show up with his ‘A’ game for all four rounds, his ‘B’ game is more than capable of seeing him over the line, providing he limits mistakes and takes advantage of the traditional scoring holes, but that’s obviously easier said than done. And no course blends the risk and reward elements of golf better.

Rory is an aggressive player, and by his own admission, is on the back nine of his career. With each passing year, his chances of joining the most elite of membership clubs – the career grand slam winners – get slimmer. Patience is a virtue, but shy kids get no sweets. It’s what he wants more than anything else, but is he finally in the sweet spot?

Will he finally get his white whale?

Rory’s nine previous Career Grand Slam attempts

2015 – 4th 6 shots behind winner Spieth and 2 behind Rose and Mickelson
2016 – T10th Started round 3 in 2nd place, 1 shot back, but never recovered from a 77
2017 – T7th A final round 69 was his best of the week. Finished 6 back of Rose and Garcia
2018 – T5th Missed a 4-footer for eagle on the 2nd hole and played final 16 holes in +3, losing by 6
2019 – T21st Never really in the mix and a final-round 68 saw him finish 8 behind Tiger
2020 – T5th Opened with a 75, but followed with 66, 67, 69 as Dustin Johnson won easy
2021 – Cut Shot 76, 74 to miss the cut for the first time since 2010
2022 – 2nd A final-round 64 helped him to his highest ever Masters finish, but Scheffler was miles ahead
2023 – Cut Opened with a 72, then shot 77 to miss the cut by 2 shots