The year is 2055. Rory McIlroy is starting to find his game right around the magical time of the golf year when Augusta National’s yearly Masters Tournament looms in the distance.
Seriously though, this is the story every single year prior to The Masters. Rory McIlroy wins a tournament or starts playing very well just in time for The Masters, the lone major tournament of the four he has yet to win. For all the iconic moments in Rory’s career and now 28 wins he’s achieved on TOUR, McIlory does not have a Green Jacket in his closet.
Much to my surprise, this win at The Players marks the first time in his career that McIlroy has won two PGA Tour events before April. It’s ironically the third time that the Irishmen has won on St. Patrick’s Day in his career. Rory’s many superlatives have made him a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer one day.
But none of it is going to matter unless he one day gets christened with the Green Jacket at The Masters.
There is no doubt that McIlroy is going to go down as the best golfer in the generation following Tiger Woods. He won the 2011 U.S. Open, the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship, and the 2014 Open Championship. Add two Players Championships to that resume and McIlory is this generation’s greatest golfer.
If you want proof that golf is hard, that same guy has not won a major championship in over a decade. This generation’s most decorated golfer has won a lot of the smaller events on TOUR but hasn’t been able to win the big one despite being so close.
Who can forget last year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst where McIlroy was clinging to a late final round lead before missing two very short pressure-packed putts. LIV Golfer’s biggest star, Bryson DeChambeau took advantage and stole the tournament right out from underneath McIlroy with one of the greatest bunker shots in U.S. Open history to win.
It seems like every year, McIlroy is the betting favorite at Augusta National. If not the favorite, he’s top three. This year, Scottie Scheffler will likely head into Augusta as the betting favorite unless he continues to play below his standards up until then.
Which brings me back to my point, is this the year that McIlroy gets the elusive Green Jacket to complete the career Grand Slam? I don’t like betting against him but it is one of those situations where, as much as you want to see it, you know what it’s been like watching him choke away his opportunities.
There are so many young stars in the game right now. Augusta isn’t a place where young guys come in and just win. Ludvig Aberg played flawlessly through three days last year before succumbing to the pressure and history of Augusta National’s prestige. Every golf fan remembers Jordan Spieth’s Masters collapse in 2016 after winning the previous year at just 21-years old.
Yet, the grizzled veteran of 35-years old and nearly 20 seasons on the PGA Tour has yet to conquer golf’s hardest challenge.
Year-in and year-out it feels like golf fans say “this is Rory’s best last chance” and every year he flirts with everyone’s emotions by rounding into form prior to The Masters just to blow yet another chance at winning.
The two oldest winners in Masters history are Jack Nicklaus (46) and Tiger Woods (43). So certainly time is not running out for McIlroy quite yet but Father Time does come knocking at some point in time.
McIlroy is one of the most in shape golfers on TOUR and can hit the ball as far as anyone. His strength and skills only seem to be aging like fine wine. But with every passing year he doesn’t complete the career Grand Slam, he is one chance closer to the end of his career.
There’s a very small part of the golf community, if anyone, that wouldn’t want to see McIlroy complete the grand slam. If you asked any TOUR golfer, they’d reluctantly say they want to see it too. It would just be good for the game of golf as a whole.
The game soared to new heights post-COVID and ratings are as high as they’ve been since Tiger’s hey-day. Things are always more fun when Rory McIlory is playing elite golf.
This particular guy hopes that this is finally the year McIlory exercises his Augusta demons and collects a win that would put him in a stratosphere with only Ben Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods: the only golfers to have won all four majors and completed the career Grand Slam.