Rory McIlroy’s road to the Masters was memorable for reasons not many would have imagined.
He missed the cut at the Honda Classic. He was missing a club at the Cadillac Championship when he flung his three-iron into a lake and his highlight at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was eating a banana split after dinner with the King.
“He went into it like it was the last supper,” Palmer said.
Photo: USA Today
It was not pretty, but there was no reason for McIlroy to panic.
He finished off the Florida swing with two birdies on the final three holes for a two-under 70, eight shots behind Matt Every at Bay Hill. He tied for ninth at Doral, though he was still eight shots behind Dustin Johnson and never really featured at the weekend.
In 10 rounds over three tournaments he broke 70 only once.
Before heading home to South Florida for two weeks of work before the Masters, he was asked by a reporter if he should be the favorite at Augusta National.
“Given how I’ve been playing, I guess if you go on form, then probably no, but it depends how far you take that for back, and you’ve got to look at previous results there and all sorts of stuff,” McIlroy said.
There was no right way to answer the question, so he made an artful escape by adding: “I’m not a bookie.”
However, he is the favorite and there will be loads of pressure on McIlroy. The opportunity is too great.
Not since Lee Trevino in 1991 has a player gone to the Masters with a chance to complete the Grand Slam.
Trevino never cared for Augusta National, never seriously contended there and besides he was 51. McIlroy had a four-shot lead going into the final round in 2011 and shot 80.
He knows he can play there. He’s only 25 and he is No. 1 in the world.
Beyond the Grand Slam, he can join Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan as the only players with three straight majors since the Masters began in 1934. Those opportunities do not come along very often, which is why Woods points to the 2000 PGA Championship (his third straight major) as his most clutch putting performance.
The good news for McIlroy is the buildup to the Masters is over — at least for now.
The first three months of the year were all about Augusta National and the hype was not quite as strong as it could have been. He was asked about it a fair amount, though not enough to consume him. Either way, he was prepared for it.
“I was expecting to get a lot of questions,” McIlroy said. “It’s a big deal what I’m trying to achieve over there.”
It is difficult to measure progress over five tournaments spread across two months, although his win in Dubai and runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi should not be overlooked.
McIlroy said the best golf he was playing going into the Masters was in 2011. He did not win in five events leading to the Augusta, with a runner-up in Abu Dhabi and a tie for 10th in Dubai and Doral.
By that measure, this year has been slightly better.
There was a glimpse of impatience early in the Florida swing, particularly at Doral when he had trouble trusting the difficult shots, such as the pull with a three-iron into the lake and the club that soon followed the ball into the water.
McIlroy managed to turn that into a light-hearted moment. Donald Trump managed to turn that into a three-day news event. Then it was time to move on.
The real culprit has been his wedges and irons. He is simply not hitting it very close for a reasonable chance at making birdie putts.
In a tiny sample size, but McIlroy’s average proximity from 125 yards to 150 yards was 30 feet in the Florida swing, or about 10 feet farther away than his average on the PGA Tour last year.
The good news for McIlroy is no one is talking about a slump and there is something to be said about not peaking too early.
Woods was going for an unprecedented sweep of the majors in 2001 and there were suggestions of a slump. He went six tournaments without winning (though he was never worse than a tie for 13th).
The Masters was approaching. The pressure was building. Then Woods won Bay Hill, the Players Championship and the Masters. It is all about peaking at the right time.
The Masters starts on April 9.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS