Could Rory McIlroy win one Masters? He did, two years ago.
Could McIlroy repeat? In April, he did, becoming just the fourth player to do so.
You know the next question. Three-peat, which no one has done. Oh, how far we’ve come. One player who went back-to-back at Augusta National thinks McIlroy can do it — but Jack Nicklaus wonders about one thing.
This week, the Golden Bear is front and center as his Muirfield Village Golf Club hosts his Memorial Tournament, where McIlroy is tied for 12th midway through the suspended third round. And on Nicklaus’ visit to the CBS booth during Saturday’s third-round play, talk got to the 2024 and ’25 Masters winner. What did Nicklaus think of his latest win? He said it was “pretty darn good” — then he looked at McIlroy’s game.
“If you look at the leaderboard here this week,” Nicklaus said, “anything that kills Rory, it’s his double bogeys and more. He has a tendency to get himself into places where you can make more than bogey. I know he doesn’t like that; nobody likes that.
“I said to him this week, Rory, you got plenty of places to drive the golf ball. But there are times where maybe that little cut shot or that little 3-wood or whatever it is, put the ball in play. I said, you hit it so far, it won’t make a difference. But just keep yourself in a position where you’re not going to make high scores.”
Analyst Trevor Immelman, himself a Masters winner, then asked Nicklaus if McIlroy sometimes plays too aggressively because of his strength and his skill in driving — and Nicklaus said McIlroy has “as good and as solid of a swing as there is in the game of golf.” He then talked about Muirfield Village. A few holes you can “whack it.” Others, you want just to get the ball in play. “Places where you’re going to give yourself a chance to make birdie,” Nicklaus said on the broadcast, “and if you are going to make a mistake, it’s not going to be double bogey.”
At this point, announcer Jim Nantz then asked about the three-peat.
And Nicklaus started his answer with a question of his own.
“I think he’s got every opportunity in the world to take it three times. Again, is Rory going there with a little bit of discipline?” Nicklaus said on the broadcast.
“He’s such a good player. And there’s so many great shots that he can play. I mean, you saw the shots he played a couple of years ago — 15, 17, at 7. Some of the shots that he hit to win that golf tournament, he’s got that in the bag. But you don’t have to have those shots all the time. You want to put the ball in play and be smart. Because the way he plays, if he just plays smart, he’s got a very good chance to be a three-peat.”
As for how Nicklaus did during his three-in-a-row bid?
In 1967, he missed the cut.
“I certainly don’t want to wish that on Rory,” he said.
This article originated on Golf.com
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