AUGUSTA, Ga. — The evolution of 32-year-old Rory McIlroy and his roller-coaster Masters career goes like this:
- When he first hit the scene at Augusta as a hotshot 18-year-old in 2009, he was so talented with a game so perfectly suited for the golf course that he was almost expected to win right away despite his youth.
- At the 2011 Masters, nothing appeared to bother him as he spent carefree evenings between rounds playing soccer in the driveway of his rental home with his best mates. Then he blew a four-shot final-round lead en route to a stunning Sunday 80 and cried after it was over.
- In 2018, a four-time major winner by then, he failed to chase down his Ryder Cup rival Patrick Reed in the final round, finishing with a Sunday 74 that left him disillusioned.
- Since 2014, with a U.S. Open, British Open and two PGA Championships already inked onto this résumé, McIlroy has needed only a Masters green jacket added to his closet to become only the sixth player in the history of the game to achieve a career grand slam.
He enters this week’s Masters, which begins Thursday, 0-for-7 in pursuit of the slam.
Yet McIlroy, a father now, said the thing he was most looking forward to this week was playing in Wednesday’s annual Par-3 Contest with his young daughter, Poppy, rolling around in the grass.
“It’s funny, when you don’t have children, the Par-3 seems like a bit of an afterthought, and then once kids arrive it sort of becomes the highlight of the week in a way,’’ McIlroy said Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to it. It will be fun to get out there and watch her run around.’’
When McIlroy was introduced by the Augusta National interview room moderator as playing in his 14th Masters, he became a touch wistful.
“It’s amazing: I think back to my first appearance here in 2009, and then this is my 14th and just how quickly the time goes and the sort of evolution that life takes on and the places that you found yourself,’’ he said.
McIlroy remains purposefully relevant. He’s ranked No. 9 in the world and has a win this year and five wins since 2019, including the ’19 Players Championship. It’s just that he’s been stuck on those four major championships since 2014, which is as curious as it is bothersome.
McIlroy’s resilience should be noted: After that Masters meltdown in 2011, he went on to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship that year.
Now he insisted that he feels “less pressure’’ to complete the slam than he did in his previous seven tries at Augusta.
“I’m maybe at a different stage of my life where back then golf was everything,’’ McIlroy said. “Obviously, it’s still very, very important, but maybe back then I would think that … I don’t know if I would feel like I was fulfilled if I didn’t win [the slam], but it’s less pressure.
“I know if I play well, I’ll give myself chances to win this golf tournament.’’
Interestingly, his best finish in pursuit of completing the slam was in 2015, his first try, which ended in a fourth-place finish behind winner Jordan Spieth.
“Jordan played wonderfully that week,’’ he recalled. “I played well, maybe not as well as I could, but I played pretty much up to my potential, and it just wasn’t good enough that week.’’
Maybe, with the pressure abated some, this is the week McIlroy’s stuff around Augusta National will finally be good enough. A McIlroy Masters victory would rank right up there with the best potential stories to emerge this week — outside of Tiger Woods somehow winning a sixth green jacket on his previously shattered right leg.
McIlroy is a player you root for, not only because his game is beautiful to watch, but because he’s a person who seemingly does all the right things, someone who’s thoughtful, engaging, humble and real.
“I’ve always said time is on my side, and I’ll keep saying that until it isn’t, whenever that is,’’ he said. “I’m 32 years old with a ton of experience. I still feel young. I’m only a few years older than those [young] guys. I’ve got a few more gray hairs than I used to, but I’m still young at heart.’’
Still …
“Time does go so quickly, and you think about where does the time go — 14 years being here and everything that’s happened in those 14 years,’’ he said. “But … I’ve had wonderful times here and wonderful memories and looking forward to creating even better memories with my family and at the Par-3.’’
Or an even better memory with the green jacket slipped over his shoulders by defending champion Hideki Matsuyama early Sunday evening in the Butler Cabin.
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