Ask Rory McIlroy if his Masters record disappoints him and the answer is a firm “yes”. Ask the 24-year-old whether his life in golf could ever be complete without a green jacket? The “no” is similarly immediate.
“I’d be disappointed if I ended my career and wasn’t able to go up and have breakfast in the champions’ locker room,” McIlroy says.
“The way I play golf, the way my game is, Augusta does set up well for me. And for me not to have a top-10 coming into my sixth Masters …” His face says it all; a combination of annoyance and determination to make up for lost time.
The glint is back in McIlroy’s eye. Once again, he can dare to dream. He is striking the ball as well as ever, with arguably only performance on the greens standing between him and a maiden Masters success. It is one he is impatient for but in the best possible sense. When the world No9 speaks of a career majors grand slam – he is two short – it is an entirely legitimate aspiration.
"You can look at someone like Greg Norman [who never won a Masters], or the person that I look at is Ernie Els, " McIlroy says. "He sees Trevor Immelman winning, he sees Charl Schwartzel win. He sees all these young South Africans; Louis Oosthuizen in a play-off.
"He should have won it in 2004 when Phil Mickelson birdied two of the last three. Mickelson was due a major at that point but he had never finished like that to win one, and all of a sudden he does. I think Ernie probably goes back every year and feels like that is the one that got away.
“I don’t want to get to that point but I am 24, not 44. It would be great to win one sooner rather than later. It is the same with every competition; you don’t want to wait too long for these things to happen. You want to take control of them yourself.
"Five players have won the career grand slam, I was looking at that the other day. I was looking at the ages; Tiger Woods was 24, Jack Nicklaus was 26. I think three people have done it in their 20s.
“There is no timescale, I have a lot of years left. I would love to do it. It’s something that would be a huge achievement, to put yourself on that list.”
This time last year, McIlroy was heading into the first major of the season in a state of flux. A switch to Nike clubs had proved more troublesome than he had anticipated, with a season of underachievement belatedly brightened by an Australian Open victory in December, which rightly hinted at better things to come. McIlroy knows a third major success would finally dismiss negative discussion over his 2013.
“Exactly,” he says. “It would stop everything. I think my start to this year has meant everything has sort of dwindled down anyway. When was the last time I was asked an equipment question? It doesn’t happen any more because I am playing well, getting myself back into positions that people expect me to be in and that I have been in before.
“It is nice that I don’t have to answer those sorts of questions any more, and that’s because you play well and get yourself into places where you have a chance to win tournaments; 2013 wasn’t great for me at all. I felt like I finished it off well, with a great win down in Australia. The thing is, I haven’t won a PGA Tour event since the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick [in September 2012] so I don’t want that going much longer. I don’t want to go two years without a PGA Tour win.
“The next big thing was getting back competing, which I am, then getting the wins and building that back up, as well as competing in majors again. A win this week would put all that to bed.”
McIlroy has threatened to triumph this year without actually doing it. So, too, has the defending Masters champion Adam Scott. When seeking inspiration, McIlroy is typically forthright about the fact he will glance towards the historic consistency of Woods, and that others should do likewise.
“Players should, when they get into position, finish it off,” McIlroy says. “Especially major champions like Adam and myself.
“With Tiger, it was almost like when the ball went in on the 18th hole on Sunday, he completely forgot about it. The next week was a completely new one where he hadn’t even done what he did the week before. The guys who have the chance to put themselves up there at the front, we sort of need to try to do that too.”
This, the 78th Masters, will be lacking in one key ingredient – Woods. In his youth, McIlroy was awestruck by the all-conquering American. Injury has for now, and possibly forever, diminished that power, with McIlroy, who himself pursues a strict fitness regime, mindful of the “fine line” dangers associated with going overboard.
Woods aside, a clutch of the world’s top players have suffered from recent injuries, albeit for a manner of reasons. McIlroy would never cast aspersions but is careful with regards to his own approach.
“There definitely has to be a balance. It is easy to get into this thought process that you want to be an athlete and you want to train like an athlete, you want to push your body to limits. But at the end of the day you are a golfer.
“I set a personal best at a squat a couple of weeks ago with [FITNESS COACH]Steve [MCGREGOR]at Palm Beach and I was so happy with myself. Does that really make you a better golfer? Maybe not. It is just something that people can get into and have as a hobby.
“Tiger has obviously taken that to a new level where he didn’t just want to be the best golfer in the world, he wanted to be an incredible athlete. He wanted to train with navy Seals, he took it to a whole new level because that is his personality, that’s the way he is.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong with golfers training like athletes, trying to be athletes, trying to become more whatever; stronger, fitter, leaner but at the end of the day there is only so much you need to do to improve your golf and the rest is more personal, if you want to get stronger, look bigger or whatever. It is not about being able to squat 450 times. It is about getting the ball in the hole. We are golfers first. You can see all shapes and sizes can get it done.”
McIlroy has had such conversations with his fiancee, Caroline Wozniacki. He laughs when asked whether speculation about a New York wedding in October or November of this year is true.
It is another indicator of his upbeat mood; 12 months ago, McIlroy would have been irked by the raising of his private life at all.
“Yes, it could be,” he says of the date suggestion. “We’ll see. It [THE REPORT]is definitely nothing to do with me. I just say ‚’yes, how much?’”
February storms took away Augusta’s Eisenhower’s Tree. They also removed Rory’s Branch; the tree part which cannoned McIlroy’s ball left on the 10th to trigger a meltdown that cost him the 2011 Masters. “Whenever the members play, there is a guy that has a drinks cart on the 10th tee,”McIlroy says. “He told me last Tuesday, ‘Your branch, it isn’t there any more’.”
That unusual omen aside, McIlroy is adamant he would be far better equipped to close out a winning position this time around.
“I would know what to do,” he says. “I feel like I am going into this one a little bit like 2011. I am playing nicely, comfortable with my game, being in contention a little bit without quite getting the win. I’m just waiting for that week where everything really clicks.”
The stars seem aligned. The most iconic venue in golf will preside over what happens next.
Guardian Service
