Rory McIlroy is prepping at Augusta National this week and working with instructor Michael Bannon to get ready for his 11th attempt to win the Masters since his last major victory and complete the career Grand Slam. Speaking on Golf Channel’s Masters media conference call, analysts Paul McGinley and Brandel Chamblee said the stars appear to be aligning for McIlroy to become as colleague Rich Lerner put it “the first true legend of the post-Tiger Woods era.”
McGinley noted that McIlroy has won twice on the PGA Tour this season already, the first time he has done that before the Masters and at two of its biggest events. And McGinley pointed out that McIlroy did so with his ‘B game.’
“That’s new. That’s an evolution of Rory McIlroy. That’s different than what we’ve seen before,” McGinley said. “When you go to a tournament knowing that you have to produce your best to win, that’s one thing. But when you go there and you feel like I don’t have to be quite on my game here and I can still win, and I’ll tell you what, I can prove it, look what I did at the TPC, that gives you a broader sense of confidence. So that’s one area that Rory will be going with.”
Another is the fact that a number of McIlroy’s closest adversaries aren’t at the top of their game. Both world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele missed time due to injuries and neither has tasted victory this season.
“I’m certainly not going to discount them, but not quite on their game. So that would buoy him a little bit, as well,” McGinley said.
Third and perhaps most important, McGinley highlighted the mental challenge for McIlroy. The pressure will be enormous if McIlroy has a chance on the back nine Sunday.
“I know that Bob Rotella has been a huge influence on him in the last 18 months, and I think he’ll have him very well prepared now. This is not the first rodeo going into the Masters working together. They’ve had two or three runs at this now, and I think they will be coming up with a plan in terms of taking that pressure and kind of decimating it and putting it aside, so I think he’ll be well prepared mentally because of the work he’s doing with Bob,” McGinley said. “Two or three of those things all colliding together gets me a little bit buoyed. I’m not going to say over-buoyed, and I’m certainly not going to say giddy, but a little bit buoyed that he does have a strong chance this year in comparison to other years.”
Chamblee picked up where McGinley left off, and he could be characterized as bordering on giddy.
“This Masters is his to win or lose. It’s his,” Chamblee said. “Likely, he’s not going to catch Scheffler a little bit more off of his game than Scheffler is right now. Xander is a little bit off of his game. There are things about Augusta National that don’t quite fit Collin Morikawa. Ludvig is a little bit off of his game. You go down the list, and it’s like, his closest competitors, the ones that are apt to give him his greatest challenge, you could all say are a little off their game, and Rory has never been in a better spot going into the Masters.
“From a technical standpoint and a mental standpoint, this is Rory’s. He’s got to be in that state where there’s no past and no future. He’s just got to own that little space that’s right in front of him, that next shot.”
Chamblee also noted how rare a feat the career Grand Slam is: from 1934 to 1966 four players completed the career Grand Slam in a span of 32 years. Just one has done it in the last 59 years.
“I would say that’s a testament to the increasing level of competition,” Chamblee said. “There’s a reason for the golf world to be excited about the possibility, and again, from a competitive standpoint, he’s never gone into the Masters playing better or sharper from a competitive standpoint.”
He added: “For ...
