AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | For 16 years now, Rory McIlroy has been coming to Augusta searching for the meaning of life – or at least the part of it that leads to a green jacket. He’s tried seemingly 16 different strategies to solve the riddle of the Masters, and he’s 0-for-15 in finding the answer.
He’s tried attacking the course. He’s tried the exact opposite of attacking called a “negative mindset” that goes against his nature. He’s tried a more Zen-like attitude. He’s tried to have more fun during the week. He’s tried blocking out all distractions. He’s been more technical. Less technical. He’s tried coming early for scouting trips and taking none at all. He’s tried playing his way into Masters week and taking time off before. None of it has yet achieved the desired result of acquiring the last piece of his career Grand Slam.
This year, McIlroy hopes he has hit on something crucial by taking a detour to Las Vegas recently to visit golf’s ultimate swing whisperer, Butch Harmon. He wanted a fresh set of eyes from a hall-of-fame-type instructor after having some difficulty with his iron play in recent tournaments.
Harmon, 80, has worked with a slew of marquee stars over the years, including Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.
Whatever wisdom and tips Harmon imparted to McIlroy seemed to pay immediate dividends as the Northern Irishman enjoyed his best strokes-gained-approach week in a PGA Tour event in nearly five years at the Valero Texas Open. At TPC San Antonio, McIlroy’s average proximity to the hole on approach shots from 125 to 150 yards was more than 5 feet better than his season average entering the week, helping him share the field lead in bogey avoidance en route to his third-place finish.
“It was a really beneficial trip for the technical side of things, which I think I made progress in that department last week, especially with my strokes-gained-approach numbers, which is what I really wanted to do,” McIlroy said of his Harmon audience. “It’s also just spending time around someone like that that’s coached a lot of the best players in the world and sort of him giving you his blessing on things; I think that’s nice validation as well.”
McIlroy is also minimizing his on-site prep. He arrived in Augusta at midday Tuesday and did a quick 10-minute interview before getting to work preparing for the season’s first major.
“No question; he’ll do it at some point. … Rory’s too talented, too good.” – Tiger Woods
While doubts have grown with each passing chance about McIlroy’s ability to fulfill what always has seemed his destiny to join the career Grand Slam club, Woods remains bullish on the inevitability of McIlroy booking a seat at the Champions Dinner table.
“No question; he’ll do it at some point,” Woods said an hour before McIlroy came into the press room Tuesday. “He’s just … Rory’s too talented, too good. He’s going to be playing this event for a very long time. He’ll get it done. It’s just a matter of when.
“But, yes, I think that Rory will be a great Masters champion one day, and it could be this week. You never know. I just think that just, again, the talent that he has, the way he plays the game and the golf course fits his eye, it’s just a matter of time.”
McIlroy said it is “flattering” to hear that kind of support from a five-time green jacket winner, but they are still only words. Augusta isn’t in the deserve business. Just ask Greg Norman, Johnny Miller, Ernie Els, David Duval or the ghost of Tom Weiskopf.
“It’s nice to hear, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game say something like that,” McIlroy said of Woods’ confidence in him. “Does that mean that it’s going to happen? Obviously not. But he’s been around the game long enough to know that I at least have the potential to do it. I know I’ve got the potential to do it, too. It’s not as if I haven’t been a pretty good player for the last couple of decades.
“So, but, yeah, it’s nice to hear it when it comes out of his mouth.”
Converting potential into reality has been a challenge – and it might be an even bigger one for him this week with forecast wind gusts up to 35-40 mph on Thursday and Friday that are not an obstacle he welcomes.
McIlroy nearly knocked the Masters out in 2011 but instead suffered scars that still linger. He seemed to have it figured out with his charging runner-up in 2022, but his confidence was dashed again by a missed cut last year when he was so certain that he was on the brink.
McIlroy’s latest gambit is to play his way into the Masters. He’s made eight starts already in 14 weeks in 2024, winning in Dubai and posting five consecutive top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour.
“I play 25 weeks a year, and there’s no point in doing anything different this week compared to other weeks, I guess,” McIlroy said. “I wanted to play quite a bit leading up to this just to feel like my game was sharp or, if it wasn’t sharp, to try to get it in the best shape possible. I feel like I made a couple of good strides in that direction last week in Texas.”
Now comes the biggest part of the validation process: getting it done over four days at Augusta National. McIlroy starts Thursday in the heart of the field paired with heavy favorite Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, one group behind defending champion Jon Rahm and just ahead of a stout group featuring U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland and Cam Smith.
“I think I can do most things, but sometimes you just have to take the conservative route and be a little more disciplined and patient.” – Rory McIlroy
Can McIlroy keep his desire to finally win a green jacket from becoming an obstacle to his performance?
“This golf course gets you to chase things a little more than other golf courses, if you make a bogey or if you get yourself out of position, because it always tempts you to do something you think you can do,” he said. “And I’m pretty confident in my golf game. I think I can do most things, but sometimes you just have to take the conservative route and be a little more disciplined and patient.”
Maybe this time it will all work and McIlroy finally will find the meaning of a lifetime seat at the Masters Club table.