Rory McIlroy is already one of the game's great players. He has won major championships four times, in PGA Tour tournaments he has won 24 times, and in FedEx Cups he has won three titles (the most in PGA Tour history). But there's still a glaring hole in his resume, and that's with the Green Jackets.
The Masters at Augusta National is the only major title McIlroy has yet to win.
McIlroy, 34, recently joined the England squad. podcast stick to football There he detailed his struggle.
“This year…the second morning I was on the first green. I could see Brooks Koepka coming in eighth…I could see him already at 10 under. Even par. I was there and thought, “Oh, I'm already 10 seconds behind.'' We’ve got to start pressing,” McIlroy admitted.
“The worst thing I did that day was look at the leaderboard…The winning score ended up being 10 under, so I thought I needed to get to 10 under between 18 or 27 holes. ” , “It’s okay, calm down. Play the regular game and see how you're doing. ”
The 2023 Masters isn't the only missed opportunity for McIlroy to join the exclusive list of career Grand Slam winners.
He has come close many times, including in 2011 when he held a four-stroke lead until Sunday. Unfortunately, the Irishman finished T15 in the final round of 80, with Charles Schwartzel taking home the trophy.
There were several other close calls, including a second-place finish in 2022.
Photo credit: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
Podcast host Paddy McGuinness praised the Irishman for embracing his “vulnerability” at the Masters.
“I think at Augusta you do things you wouldn't normally do because of the pressure and stuff,” McIlroy countered.
Not only did he not win the Masters, it had been 10 years since he last won a major of any kind. The 2014 PGA Championship was his last major title.
McIlroy joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players under the age of 25 to win four majors. He looked like he could climb Mount Rushmore of golfers. But this narrative has clearly changed over the past decade.
The former world number one is fully confident in his abilities but will need to improve his mental approach at Augusta.
“I know I can win. I know I can beat all these guys. So the only thing stopping me is myself, my thoughts…That's why Tiger was so good. He's so mentally strong. , he was mentally superior to everyone else.”
McIlroy is 100 percent correct in that assessment.
Kendall Capps is the senior editor of SB Nation's Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms.
