AUGUSTA, GA. The ups and downs of Rory McIlroy’s career have proven to be an exasperating exercise in which promise and pain can intersect at any moment.
Case in point, yesterday’s first round at the 89th Masters.
The 35-year-old played the first 14 holes in four-under-par with no bogies on the scorecard. He then played a stellar tee shot at the par-5 15th hole setting up an iron approach. Rory’s second shot reached the pin and then went just off the back of the green.
Everything looked good for a quality chip to be played that would set him up for a potential birdie. Then the bottom fell out. McIlroy played the shot too aggressively and the ball continued to roll off the putting surface into the pond that guards the green.
Just as it appeared McIlroy was about to get himself even closer to first round leader Justin Rose who scored a remarkable round of 65, it was Rory once again replaying the same movie we have seen previously.
But matters actually got worse.
The error at the 15th was compounded by what the second ranked player in the world did at the par-4 17th. McIlroy played a good tee shot that ended up in finding Augusta’s “first cut” of rough. For whatever reason Rory underestimated how far his approach might travel from the flyer lie. His ball hit the very back of the green and kept going a full 30 yards away from the hole position.
Once again, a situation was present for him to possibly escape unscathed. That did not happen. McIlroy played a too aggressive chip shot and then saw fit to three-putt before leaving with a second double-bogey in the span of less than 30 minutes.
McIlroy finished the round with a closing par but instead of trailing Rose by at most three shots now foud himself seven shots behind. The two saving graces for Rory is that 54 holes remainto be played and he’s just four shorts behind a trio of players at four-under-par including the world’s top-ranked player Scottie Scheffler.
Coming into this year’s Masters Rory was viewed as a co-favorite with Scheffler. The Northern Irishman has won twice this year – impressively at Pebble Beach with the AT&T Pebble event and then last month with a playoff triumph at The Players Championship.
Even with those successes, concerns were still present.
In his last six Masters – Rory has had two top-five placements but he’s missed the cut twice and placed outside the top 20 in the other two starts. What appeared to be his first score in the 60s since the opening round in 2018 went off the rails with late round fumbles.
The situation with Rory is well known. By the age of 25 he had won four majors – a feat only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods accomplished. Then for reasons that cannot be fathomed he is now major-less since winning the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 2014.
McIlroy has won a number of key events in the time frame of 2015 to 2025 but the one thing missing is securing the 5th major. Should he win this week at Augusta not only would the futile streak end but McIlroy would then become just the 6th player to have won the career Grand Slam.
Yes, Rory has had a few close calls in other more recent majors. At the 2022 Open Championship he had a golden opportunity to win his second Claret Jug but was clearly outplayed in the final round by eventual winner Cameron Smith.
The most recent pain producing moment came last year at Pinehurst in the U.S. Open. Two costly putting errors over the final three holes opened the door for Bryson DeChambeau to overtake him.
Will McIlroy be able to right the ship at this year’s Masters. Clearly, the talent is present but one must wonder if scar tissue from the cumulative failures is now a permanent fixture. It is inconceivable to imagine that if Nicklaus or Woods were faced with the chip shot McIlroy had at the 15th that either of those two champions would then have chipped into the pond. Or did what Rory did at the 17th.
Championship golf is not about how many great golf shots you play – but how many unforced and silly errors you avoid. McIlroy’s brain freeze at the end of the first round was just mind numbing for its total meltdown.
Conversely, McIlroy’s chief green jacket rival Scheffler played a bogey-free first round. Such play from the number-one-player in the world has been the Texan’s calling card. Yes, Scottie can be beaten but more often than not it takes stellar play to do so.
During his pre-tournament press conference McIlroy stated how he has been able to push the noise away and is in a good place with his golf game. On paper McIlroy’s career will undoubtedly produce a World Golf Hall of Fame selection. But when you win four majors by age 25 the logical expectation is that a legacy career in the mold of Nicklaus and Woods was possible.
This week’s Masters is the 11th attempt by McIlroy to win the green jacket and accomplish the career Grand Slam. Champion golfers realize that concern over what happened previously is only as important in having learned something from it.
Well — given that – has McIlroy learned anything?
Rory has an earlier tee time for Friday’s second round and will need to dig deep in finding a resolve to re-establish himself in a much more consistent manner for the full 18 holes.
Rory’s Masters story is still a work in progress. Can he successfully turn the page and navigate to a more promising pathway? Sure, it’s possible. But the circumstances in which he finds himself will clearly require a far heavier lift.
54 holes remain. Will the end result provide ultimate glory or the same old Rory story?
Stay tuned.
Related: Can Rose finally bloom at Augusta?
