WHY AUGUSTA COULD NOW BE A CURSE FOR RORY

IF EVER there was a day for Rory McIlroy to stand and deliver, it was Sunday at the 82nd Masters. He knew it. The fans knew it. Every golf analyst in the world knew it. This was the time for the most gifted player of his generation to complete the career Grand Slam. If he’d lost by one or two shots owing to the odd blow going astray, then you tip your hat. But the worrying thing was that McIlroy didn’t deliver at all. From his horrific opening drive, it was all too plainly apparent for the next excruciating four hours that the momentous nature of the occasion had proven too much. It leads to the question: if it was too much when he had everything going for him, when is it not going to prove too much? Only five golfers have ever won the career Grand Slam — and all five did so on or before their third attempt. That tells you about the pressure it generates — and next year will be McIlroy’s fifth attempt. Interestingly, not one of the five completed the feat at the Masters, where the pressure is greatest because you’ve had eight months to wait since the last major. The other thing is what effect it’s having on McIlroy’s psyche for the other majors when the first one of the season carries such weight and he comes up short. Is it just a coincidence that, since he began his attempt at completing the career Grand Slam in 2015, he hasn’t won any of the others? Yes, he’s only 28 and should have 15 years or so to seal the deal. But Seve Ballesteros thought the same when he turned up at the 1986 Masters, also aged 28 and also with four majors. One profound Sunday disappointment at Augusta later, and he would win only one more major thereafter. So anxious times for McIlroy’s worldwide support. When he first turned up at the Masters 10 years ago he thought it the perfect course for his game. But it’s turning into a problem.