Rory McIlroy heads to Augusta National on the back of a third-place finish at the Valero Texas Open and aiming to complete the career Grand Slam of men's golf majors; watch The Masters exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf from April 11-14 and stream with NOW
Tuesday 9 April 2024 06:09, UK
Is this the year Rory McIlroy completes the career Grand Slam? We assess the four-time major champion's form, his mixed record at Augusta National and his hopes of winning The Masters...
In a word, mixed. McIlroy may have finished third at the Valero Texas Open over the weekend, nine shots behind play-off winner Akshay Bhatia, but that was by some distance his best performance on the PGA Tour so far this year.
The 34-year-old's year got off to a fine start with two strong showings on the DP World Tour, tying for second in the Dubai Invitational and then successfully defending his Dubai Desert Classic title for his fourth overall victory in the event.
Prior to last weekend's tournament in San Antonio, McIlroy had not finished higher than tied for 19th on the North American circuit. However, his results had been steadily improving after tying for 66th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.
Following that, he tied for 24th at the Genesis Invitational, tied for 21st at the Cognizant Classic and Arnold Palmer Invitational, followed by cracking the top 20 at The Players Championship. Two weeks off then yielded third place at the Texas Open in his final outing before The Masters.
"I definitely feel like I'm in a better place than I was a few weeks ago," McIlroy said following his final round at the Texas Open. "Through the Florida swing there was just a lot of volatility in my game, some good, some bad, quite a few big numbers, so just trying to tidy that up.
"For me, I'm always going to be able to hit good shots, it's just how bad the bad ones are, and this week the bad ones were still in play and not too bad, and I was able to scramble well enough when I did hit a few poor ones.
"Again, overall, much more pleased with where my game is compared to two or three weeks ago."
The Northern Irishman will be making his 16th appearance at The Masters this year and is aiming to join a select group of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to complete the Grand Slam of men's golf's four majors.
The closest he has come to pulling on the iconic green jacket was two years ago when he finished second to Scottie Scheffler by three shots. Since 2014, he has finished in the top 10 at the invitation event on seven occasions as well.
However, that runner-up spot was sandwiched by McIlroy failing to make the cut in both 2021 and 2023, something he had only previously suffered at Augusta National on his second appearance there in 2010.
A 77 in the second round last year wrecked his chances of making it to the weekend after carding a level-par 72 in the first, but that is significantly above his career scoring average at Augusta National of 71.50 from 54 rounds in total.
To put that into context, McIlroy has the lowest scoring average of any player to have played between 50 and 74 rounds of the course and is just behind that of five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods (71.10 from 96 rounds) and three-time winner and last year's runner-up Phil Mickelson (71.30 from 114 rounds).
If the past two years are anything to go by, McIlroy's pre-Masters form has had little bearing on how he performs at Augusta National.
Prior to his second place in 2022, he had finished tied for 33rd at The Players and failed to make the cut at the Texas Open.
Last year, meanwhile, McIlroy had finished third at the WGC-Dell Technologies World Match Play and had finished second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational - albeit missing the cut at The Players.
One positive for McIlroy this year, though, is that his performances on the PGA Tour have been steadily improving and he believes his mental approach at Augusta will play a significant role in whether he can finally complete the Grand Slam.
"Control of myself, control of my emotions and my thoughts," McIlroy said. "If I can control those, it makes the physical control of everything a lot easier and a lot more simple.
"To me [The Masters] is all about discipline, about staying in control of yourself and in control of what you can control. If I can do that well, then the rest will follow."
Former PGA Championship winner Rich Beem:
"You'd be stupid not to pick Scottie Scheffler right now because he's obviously the hottest and greatest player in the world, but I'm going to go with Rory McIlroy.
"The reason I'm going to go with Rory is that I think McIlroy can play his absolute best when he has a chip on his shoulder, and I think he has a chip on his shoulder right now.
"The weight of the career Grand Slam is going to be there, but I think he's going to focus more on the fact that Scheffler is getting all the attention, and I don't think that sits well with him."
Three-time Masters winner Sir Nick Faldo:
"Rory [drives] better probably than anybody ever. He's one of the greatest drivers ever, but that swing doesn't work for irons.
"He's driving so well that I'd park that... I'd hit four balls with the driver and be done each day, and if they go in the right place then fine.
"Just spend all day working on wedges, nine irons and eight irons. If he did that then you never know."
Tiger Woods' former coach Butch Harmon:
"He has just got to relax and play golf, which is very easy to say but he wants it so bad. We want it for him, the press wants it for him, the fans want it for him, his family wants it for him and that gets in the way of allowing you to be yourself.
"I think if he can just go and be Rory McIlroy, he is going to have a great time and have a great chance on the back nine on Sunday, which is all you can live for."
Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm over the first two rounds on Thursday April 11 and Friday April 12, with Featured Group action and regular updates from around the course available to enjoy on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm.
There will be lots of extra action throughout all four days via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, along with Sky Q and Sky Glass, providing plenty of bonus feeds and allowing you to follow players' progress through various parts of Augusta's famous layout.
Sky Sports Golf will show extended build-up content over the weekend and occasional live updates from the course before the global broadcast window starts at 8pm for the third round and 7pm for the final day, with early action available throughout via the red button.
Who will win The Masters? Watch live from April 11-14 exclusively on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins with Featured Groups on Thursday April 11 from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, majors and more with NOW.
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