I still believe
AT AUGUSTA AS THE drizzle fell here yesterday and the circus moved on, Rory McIlroy was left with an equally empty feeling. Another Masters gone; another chance of a Green Jacket spurned.
The Major that was always supposed to have his name on it remains tantalisingly out of reach, a vision of heaven that threatens to turn into his personal hell as he tries in vain to complete his career Grand Slam.
He is attempting to join one of the most elite clubs in golf, one of which only five men are members, so admittance was never going to be easy.
The problem for McIlroy is that none of that quintet took more than three attempts to complete their Slam; he is already out of that range on four. Each year the mental dragon he has to slay grows a little larger.
“It’s going to keep stacking on as the years go by and he doesn’t win this one. There’s no one to say that he will for sure,” warned former Open champion and world No1 David Duval.
“We all believe he can play this golf course and will probably win it – but it doesn’t mean he definitely will.”
Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen all completed their set at the first time of asking and Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player at the third.
McIlroy is only 28 and will have countless more attempts to win the Masters but however many times you knock on the door, it is not guaranteed to open. Tom Watson tried and failed to complete his Slam 22 times at the USPGA.
McIlroy’s tie for fifth represented a fifth consecutive top-10 finish in the Masters but it was by far the most disappointing.
He was perfectly poised on winner Patrick Reed’s shoulder going into Sunday’s final round alongside him in the final group, yet the manner in which he went into reverse was alarming. Only four players in the fourth round shot higher than his 74. “I was surprised. It goes to show nobody is exempt from the pressures in the crunch of trying to win Major championships, let alone the career Grand Slam,” said Duval.
“The free-flowing play of the first three days had gone and he was a little tighter.
“You expect to be a little tighter but I expected a lot more from Rory than he showed us. This is going to be a tough one for him.” The mind games McIlroy indulged in ahead of the final round in underlining the stress Reed would be under trying to nail down his first Major could well have been psychological pass the parcel.
The Northern Irishman has placed such great emphasis on winning the Masters that he was the one feeling the stress. It certainly looked that way from his wayward carve on the first tee that nearly went out of bounds.
McIlroy says he did not let his nerves get the better of him, however. “When you’re playing in the final group in a Major there’s always going to be pressure and I hit a bit of a shaky drive, but when I parred the first that settled me down so it wasn’t as if nerves got
to me,” he said. “I’ll sit down and reflect over the next few days and see what I could have done better. Whether it be mindset or whatever, I just didn’t quite have it.
“The putter let me down a little bit. I wasn’t quite as trusting as I was the first few days and that made a big difference. When I did get some chances I didn’t take advantage of them.
“I feel like momentum is a huge thing, especially in final rounds. You look at what Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler did – they got on a roll and I just didn’t.”
Fowler’s runner-up finish and Spieth’s third place after a 64 meant an American 1-2-3 at the Masters for the first time since 2001.
The show moves on and so does McIlroy. In 12 months he will be back at Augusta National to do it all again.
“For the last four years I’ve had top-10s but I haven’t been close enough to the lead,” he said.
“This time I got myself there, I didn’t quite do enough but I will still come back next year and try again. One hundred per cent I can come back and win here.
“I play this golf course well. I just haven’t played it well enough at the right times.”
They got on a roll and I just didn’t