IFS, BUTCH... AND MAYBES
Another Masters, another bid by McIlroy to banish his demons
THERE is a moment in the second Netflix series of ‘Full Swing’ where Rory McIlroy, the good guy of the PGA Tour, reflects on the relevance of the 2023 USPGA triumph of Brooks Koepka, the bad guy of LIV. ‘Someone in my era has got more majors than I have,’ laments McIlroy. Not only that, but that someone, Koepka, has won all his five majors SINCE McIlroy won his fourth, 10 years ago.
I was at Valhalla in 2014 for the USPGA and followed Koepka, alongside Graeme McDowell, on Thursday morning as they were immediately behind the marquee three-ball of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington.
Koepka swaggered like John Wayne and gave the ball a mighty smack. He smiled a little and scowled a lot. A year younger than McIlroy, few imagined that within nine years he’d be 5-0 over McIlroy in majors.
In the locker room at the 2023 USPGA in Oak Hill, where he finished five shots back of Koepka, McIlroy was disconsolate.
He is heard saying to his manager Sean O’Flaherty that while he feels he can finish in the top ten he doesn’t think he’s good enough to win and that he’s considering ‘a complete reboot’.
Ahead of his 16th attempt to don the elusive green jacket, and as part of the ‘reboot’, McIlroy flew to Las Vegas at the end of March for coaching insights from Butch Harmon, the 80-year-old guru of the range, who has pointed the way to the Butler Cabin at Augusta for Woods, Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
Butch is also the father of Claude, swing coach of Koepka, and an outspoken champion of all things associated with LIV Golf.
If Butch can unlock the code for McIlroy it will represent one of his greatest coaching feats as Rory appears spooked among the azaleas, pimento cheese sandwiches and mint juleps.
Every year he tries something different, as he has done this year too, but the outcome has been the same – Augusta angst. For a generational talent, his shortcomings are increasingly difficult to defend.
McIlroy tweaked his Masters preparation by playing practice rounds at Augusta on Monday and Tuesday last before flying to
San Antonio to compete in the Texas Open. He stated: ‘I’ve realised the last few years that playing the week before a major is a good thing for me.’ He will delay his arrival this week until Tuesday lunchtime, will play nine holes, and then another nine on Wednesday.
‘It’s about simplifying things. The Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday before are long days. To get two early looks means I don’t have to go up there super early, and cram as much in.’
The expectation from within, and from outside the gallery ropes, has left McIlroy with scar tissue that can only heal when golf’s most famous garment is draped around his shoulders on Sunday evening. That Jon Rahm, another LIV defector, will be doing the presentation honours, would satisfy McIlroy almost as much a KO to Koepka down
GETTING MAC ON TRACK: Butch Harmon the stretch. Rahm’s jump into the cash-rich Saudi-backed tour was the final straw for McIlroy, who will see LIV ghosts of Masters past at every turn this week.
Champions Mickelson, Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel, all pocketed the Saudi shillings for a better life, less golf and more fun.
All of them know the off-camera procedure prior to the presentation where the winner tries on a number of jackets, and is asked which arm they would like to go with first.
There is also the warning for the new champion: remember to shake hands first with the Augusta chairman, Fred Ridley, not the previous year’s winner.
McIlroy is acutely aware of all the Masters protocols and traditions, and yearns for them to happen to him.
He knows the old fruit farm bought by Bobby Jones inside out, every nook and cranny on the course, and the room where he’d love to be changing his shoes this week, the champions’ locker.
It’s of little comfort but McIlroy is not the only golfing great in the modern era to have come up short at Augusta.
Lee Trevino (six majors), never finished higher than 10th, while Koepka (five) hasn’t won there, yet. Ernie Els (four majors) was twice second. Hale Irwin and Nick Price with three majors apiece, were also muffled at the Masters.
IF McILROY is looking for a pointer to perseverance, Garcia may provide it. When Garcia beat Justin Rose in a play-off seven years ago, it was his 19th appearance at the Masters. The record for trying and trying again – without succeeding – belongs to Gene ‘The Machine’ Littler, who rocked up 26 times. The closest he got was a play-off defeat in 1970.
For McIlroy, his pursuit of the green jacket carries shades of the Beckett quote, ‘I can’t go on. I must go on.’
Approaching his 35th birthday next month, he has to believe he has the tools and the temperament to get the job done, and join the all-time greats who have won all four majors – Nicklaus, Woods, Hogan, Player, Sarazen.
Age is not an issue for a gym rat who’s as fit as a flea and has years on his side, especially at Augusta where Nicklaus was 46 when he won in 1986, and Woods 43 when completing his comeback in 2019.
In an ideal week, McIlroy would repel Koepka, receive the jacket from Rahm, shake hands with Fred and wave at Norman, runnerup three times at Augusta, before driving off down Magnolia Lane.
He’d be level with Koepka while also drawing alongside the late Seve Ballesteros, the former king of European golf.
Might it happen? In his last eight rounds of Augusta, McIlroy has only broken 70 once and missed the cut in 2021 and 2023, although he was second in 2022.
His form so far this season has been ordinary – no top 15 finish in five PGA Tour events – with frustrations evident about having a swing for his woods, and another swing for his irons.
Maybe Butch Harmon has ironed out the creases. Maybe the prototype Taylor Made four-iron in the bag will do the trick. Maybe Rory will have a strong putting week.
It’s a lot of maybes. He can’t go on. He must go on.