The cavalcade of Masters champions in their green jackets is as familiar as Amen Corner, the images of Nicklaus and Palmer, Woods and Mickelson, Snead and Hogan slipping into golf’s ultimate wardrobe piece.
Masters champions become a part of the place, forever invitees to come and hang out under the big tree behind the clubhouse during tournament week, to be part of the Tuesday night Champions Dinner and bask again in a glow that never dulls.
And there are those who seemed destined to win the Masters but never did.
Tom Weiskopf. Ernie Els. Greg Norman. David Duval. Davis Love III, to name a few.
It seemed inevitable, like they were made for the Masters and all that comes with it. And yet …
That’s where Rory McIlroy finds himself again this week, at the intersection of hope and dreams.
A Masters victory would make McIlroy only the sixth player in history to complete the modern career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“You see the highlights of people hitting heroic golf shots around here, but that’s just one golf shot. The rest of the time, they’re doing the right things and being patient and being disciplined, and that’s what wins you green jackets.”
RORY McILROY
There are 12 players who have won three of the four majors but never got the missing piece. Lee Trevino never won the Masters. Sam Snead and Phil Mickelson couldn’t win the U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson never won the PGA Championship.
Jordan Spieth has a sense of what McIlroy is dealing with as he returns to Augusta National again. Spieth has three legs of the career Grand Slam, lacking only the PGA Championship.
Spieth will get another chance to complete the career slam at Quail Hollow in May and while he will face the familiar questions again, it’s different than what McIlroy faces trying to win a green jacket.
“Augusta is just blown up more than it probably should be. In that sense, it gets blown up toward Rory. Majors are majors. Augusta, if you look at the field, it’s technically the easiest major to win. The more someone focuses on that, the better,” Spieth said.
“It is the biggest tournament in the world and it has the most eyeballs for golf. Everything, no matter what the story is, gets blown a little out of proportion.”
The McIlroy narrative is part of that because of his place in the game and who he is. There are also high expectations this week for Scottie Scheffler, who has won two of the last three Masters and sits comfortably atop the world ranking.
What Scheffler doesn’t have is the deep and abiding emotional connection that fans have attached to McIlroy, a form of sweat equity accrued over the years. In that sense, Scheffler is playing with house money, having won twice.
McIlroy doesn’t have that luxury. Since he started his 2025 PGA Tour schedule, McIlroy has been asked about Augusta and his approach to the season’s first major championship.
Because the Masters is the first major and because it has been nine months since the last one, it’s like a long engagement building toward the big day. The narrative and the noise grow exponentially as the week approaches.
Now that it’s here with McIlroy having already won twice on tour this season, the expectations are inescapable.
“Yeah, that’s challenging. But he’s done it so many times in his ability to win tournaments. He’s been able to compartmentalize that. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue for him,” Mickelson said.
“I think his ability to compartmentalize all the things that have transpired in the past is a strength of his, so I don’t think it’ll be an issue or I don’t think that’s what’s holding him back from winning the Masters.”
What has held McIlroy back?
He hasn’t often started particularly well. His opening 71 last year was the first time he broke par in the first round in six years. The second round has been more problematic, with McIlroy’s Friday scoring average being 75.25 over the last four years.
For all of his power, McIlroy hasn’t dominated Augusta National’s par-5s the way he might. He played them 4-under par last year, was 4-under before missing the cut in 2023 and showed what is possible by playing them 8-under par in 2022.
By comparison, Zach Johnson never went for a par-5 green in two yet played them 11-under par when he won in 2007.
Making the 5- and 6-foot putts that are inevitable at Augusta is essential. McIlroy has had his share of misses in that range through the years, though he putted beautifully in his recent victory at the Players Championship
Resisting temptation is critical at Augusta National, which teases players to make aggressive choices over more prudent approaches. McIlroy is a naturally aggressive player who has sometimes tried to force the issue at Augusta.
He has talked several times recently about trying to be more like Scheffler, who plays aggressively but to carefully chosen targets, not always attacking.
“(Augusta) beats you into going for flags that you shouldn’t go for,” McIlroy said. “So, again, it’s about being very disciplined with your approach play, knowing that if you hit a wedge to 20 or 30 feet, that’s OK. Middle of the greens, you hole a few putts, that’s what it’s about. It’s about hitting greens. It’s about playing to the fat part of the green, being somewhat conservative.
“I think that’s what wins you Masters. You see the highlights of people hitting heroic golf shots around here, but that’s just one golf shot. The rest of the time, they’re doing the right things and being patient and being disciplined, and that’s what wins you green jackets.”
This moment can’t feel new to McIlroy. He’s lived various versions of it for the past decade.
McIlroy has had two very good chances to win the Masters and didn’t. The first opportunity came in 2011 when he brought a four-shot lead into the final round only to shoot 80 on Sunday in a soul-searing collapse.
“I know I’ll get plenty more chances,” the then 21-year-old McIlroy said shortly thereafter.
Now 35, he’s had 16 chances overall and that was arguably his best one. In 2018, McIlroy was in the final pairing with eventual champion Patrick Reed but never found what he needed, shooting 74 on Sunday.
McIlroy’s best Masters finish – a second place in 2022 – was the backdoor variety. He started the final round 10 shots behind Scheffler and shot 64 on Sunday to finish three back.
With seven top-10 finishes at Augusta, it’s a half-full or half-empty equation with McIlroy. If this year feels different, it’s because of how good he has been already winning at Pebble Beach and the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
“This might be the longest week of his life that he’s about to face, as everybody starts talking about it. The fact that he’s in great form actually even heightens the pressure in my opinion,” television analyst and 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman said.
McIlroy is still seemingly in the prime of his career. He has worked to simplify his life, stepping back from his front-facing position in professional golf’s power struggle, and there are no glaring issues in his game.
Age isn’t an issue yet. Mickelson was almost 34 when he won his first major at the Masters in 2004. Snead and Dustin Johnson were 36, Vijay Singh and Sergio García both 37 and Hogan 38 when they won their first green jackets. Seven players have won the Masters after their 40th birthday which suggests McIlroy still has a long runway in front of him.
Eventually though, the chances go away. History is filled with stories of unrequited love and golf has its own. No one is promised a green jacket.
“What will we all say to a guy who has more talent in his little finger and just hasn’t performed at one tournament that he desperately wants to win?” said two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange, who finished second in the 1985 Masters despite leading by three strokes with six holes to play.
“It doesn’t make him a failure. That doesn’t make him an underachiever by any stretch. It’s just he hasn’t come through at this one particular week of the year. I think this is a different year.”
Time to find out.
E-MAIL RON
Top: Rory McIlroy has been trying to solve the riddle of Augusta National for 16 years.
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