{"id":227558,"date":"2019-03-20T11:02:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T11:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/"},"modified":"2022-10-06T11:51:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T11:51:14","slug":"rory-story-augusta-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory&#8217;s Story, Augusta Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It was only going to be a matter of\ntime until Rory McIlroy posted another win and the venue he broke through\nshowed his pedigree in winning The Players Championship at the Stadium Course\nat TPC \/ Sawgrass. For a number of weeks the Northern Irishman exhibited a\nsteady game via continual high finishes but claiming the PGA Tour&#8217;s flagship\nevent was quite impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">As good as gold <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/THEPLAYERSChamp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@THEPLAYERSChamp<\/a>. ? <br><br>Congratulations, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/McIlroyRory?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@McIlroyRory<\/a>! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LiveUnderPar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LiveUnderPar<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2FOXrYnAq3\">pic.twitter.com\/2FOXrYnAq3<\/a><\/p>\u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/1107403756092706817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 17, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>McIlroy had not won since the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational and the persistent issues raised concerns for his inability to finish off tournaments. Rory has played in six PGA Tour events since the Sentry Tournament of Champions &#8212; his worst finish 6th. The continual wherewithal to always be in the mix showed plenty but the win at The Players now signals a break through that could very well reach a crescendo when the Northern Irishman reaches Augusta in a few weeks. Think of it this way McIlroy&#8217;s win at The Stadium Course was his 15th on the PGA Tour. He joins the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to have won at least four majors and 15 wins before the age of 30. That&#8217;s elite company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When heading to Augusta National,\nMcIlroy will seek to do what only one other person has done &#8212; win The Players\nand Masters in the same year. The lone person do so? Woods in 2001. Again elite\ncompany should he accomplish that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By winning his first green jacket\nMcIlroy would join one of golf&#8217;s most prestigious groups &#8212; men having won all\nthe Grand Slam events in a career. The names of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary\nPlayer, Nicklaus and Woods make up that august group. McIlroy would become the\nfirst European player to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rory&#8217;s last major win came in 2014.\nThat&#8217;s nearly five years ago. While others named Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth,\nJason Day, Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka have garnered headlines since that time\nMcIlroy has been holding in place. What many thought would be a dominant\npresence in the manner of Woods when winning back-to-back majors in &#8217;14\nresulted in a stifling plateau position.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Credit McIlroy for demonstrating\nserious grit at The Players. He did not get off to a fast start and when he\nbogied the par-4 14th after missing a very makeable putt the possibility\nexisted the round might come off the rails resulting in another high finish but\nno title to show for it. At the 15th hole Rory pushed his tee shot into a\nfairway bunker. It was at this moment McIlroy did what all great players do &#8212;\nbouncing back and righting the ship immediately. His approach to 15 feet was\nfollowed by center-cut putt for birdie and back into a tie for the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the par-5 16th he absolutely\nflushed a tee shot of 347 yards leaving him no more than 174 yards and a 9-iron\n&#8212; no misprint here &#8212; into the green. The two putt birdie pushed him in front\nand he followed with two air-tight pars at the devilish 17th and 18th holes to\nseal the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Leader by 1.<br><br>1 hole left.<br><br>The 18th is the hardest hole <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/THEPLAYERSChamp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@THEPLAYERSChamp<\/a> today.<br><br>No pressure. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VtLNYfY0I5\">pic.twitter.com\/VtLNYfY0I5<\/a><\/p>\u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/1107392590868082690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 17, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Winning tournaments down the stretch\nis where the elite players shine. Think of the happenings for two of Rory&#8217;s\nfellow Ryder Cup teammates during The Players. Jon Rahm led going into Sunday&#8217;s\nfinal round yet coughed up all over himself with a disappointing 76. Tommy\nFleetwood played magnificently through the first 36 holes with a 132 total but\ncame up limping for the final two rounds posting a 143 total. Getting into positon\nto win is half the battle &#8212; closing the door and emerging victorious is the\nmark of a champion. Rahm and Fleetwood still need to demonstrate the critical\nfinal chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No one more than McIlroy realizes\nghosts of previous Masters still linger. Until he wins at Augusta the critics\nwill be waiting. Last year he was paired with eventual winner Patrick Reed and\nthe day prior McIlroy spoke about how much pressure there would be on Reed to\nsee things through. The reality of the final round from last year&#8217;s event\ncrystalized completely when Rory blew a fairly easy eagle putt at the par-5 2nd\nand from that moment he had the look of a deer frozen in the headlights of a\nPatrick Reed sports car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>The windows within golf will\ncertainly remain open given McIlroy&#8217;s age. Even if 2019 is not successful in\nsecuring a green jacket there will be other years. But the major championship\nspigot does not run forever and can end suddenly. When Arnold Palmer won his\nrecord fourth Masters in 1963 the King was 34 and the future seemed promising\nfor additional majors. None came after that moment in Augusta. The same holds\ntrue for Seve Ballesteros after winning his 3rd Open Championship in 1988 at\nage 31. The promise of future majors looked so sure for the gifted Spaniard.\nNone came after his epic win at Royal Lytham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McIlroy has tidied up his game\nconsiderably and the golfer who imploded in the 2011 Masters with a final round\n80 and throwing away a four shot lead going into the final round. That golfer\nfrom nearly eight years ago is not remotely close to the vastly experienced\nplayer he is now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The interesting thing about golf is\nthat the more you want something the harder it can be to attain it. Phil\nMickelson is looking to complete a career Grand Slam but needs a US Open win to\ndo so even after finishing second a record six times. Jordan Spieth needs to\nwin a PGA Championship to complete the quadrant of majors. Jordan&#8217;s game today\nis at best uncertain but a returning to Augusta may prove reinvigorating for\nhim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Major championships have always been\nthe ultimate measuring stick when the various generation of players are\nanalyzed. McIlroy showed a good deal at The Players but that event is now in\nthe rear view mirror. A number of elite modern players have failed to win at\nAugusta. Most notably &#8212; Ernie Els.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Winning never gets old. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3GQBXmikHt\">pic.twitter.com\/3GQBXmikHt<\/a><\/p>\u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/1107627714931032064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 18, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The Rory story still has plenty of\nchapters to add in his career but the swagger and gumption he showed with his\nlatest win shows a golfer on a mindful mission. The only golfer of comparable\ntalent is the current number one player in the world Dustin Johnson. Having\nthose two go blow for blow can make for a truly epic event. The countdown is on\nand a green jacket awaits. Other golfers will no doubt weigh in but McIlroy is\nfully aware that minus Johnson no golfer globally has the kind of talent he\npossesses when in full throttle mode.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We shall see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>McIlroy&#8217; mission is one green jacket away from the career Grand Slam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[688,268,323,322,69,494,2846,84,105,2420,495,371,2949],"class_list":["post-227558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-masters","tag-19th","tag-augusta-national","tag-grand-slam","tag-green-jacket","tag-m-james-ward","tag-major-tournament","tag-march-2019","tag-pga-tour","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-stadium-course","tag-the-masters","tag-tpc-sawgrass","tag-us-pga-players-championship"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.6 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rory&#039;s Story, Augusta Ahead - Golf Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rory&#039;s Story, Augusta Ahead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"McIlroy&#039; 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Their collective expertise and dedication ensure that Golf Today remains a premier destination for golf enthusiasts seeking the latest news, insightful analysis, and engaging stories from the world of golf.\",\"jobTitle\":\"Editor\",\"worksFor\":\"Golf Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/author\/aurelie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rory's Story, Augusta Ahead - Golf Today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rory's Story, Augusta Ahead","og_description":"McIlroy' mission is one green jacket away from the career Grand Slam","og_url":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/","og_site_name":"Golf Today","article_published_time":"2019-03-20T11:02:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-06T11:51:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":848,"height":415,"url":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/players-championship_mcilroy-e1552894621458.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Editorial Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Editorial Team","Estimated reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/","url":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/","name":"Rory's Story, Augusta Ahead - Golf Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/players-championship_mcilroy-e1552894621458.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-20T11:02:59+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-06T11:51:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/2a5385905c87c8218d8da413c1616189"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/players-championship_mcilroy-e1552894621458.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/players-championship_mcilroy-e1552894621458.jpg","width":848,"height":415,"caption":"Rory McIlroy battles to victory in Florida"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-story-augusta-ahead\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"19th Hole","item":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/19th-hole\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Masters","item":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/19th-hole\/the-masters\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Rory's Story, Augusta Ahead"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/","name":"Golf Today","description":"Golf News and Lifestyle","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/2a5385905c87c8218d8da413c1616189","name":"The Editorial Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cropped-the-editorial-team-avatar-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cropped-the-editorial-team-avatar-96x96.jpg","caption":"The Editorial Team"},"description":"The editorial team at Golf Today strives to provide readers with captivating content that celebrates the rich heritage and exciting developments in the world of golf. 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