Grand scheme
Under- the- radar Rory eyes Masters to cap career slam
AUGUSTA, Ga.— If it’s possible to be the No. 1 ranked player in the world and fly under the radar entering the Masters with a chance to complete a rare career Grand Slam and— in the process win his third consecutive major championship— this is Rory McIlroy’s week. With thanks to Tiger Woods. While the golf world has breathlessly tracked every step and movement of Woods, who is returning from his selfimposed bad- golf hiatus to play the Masters for the first time since 2013 ( he missed last year with a back injury), few have even noticed a shot McIlroy has hit in a practice round — let alone what he had for breakfast.
McIlroy, who enters this week having won the 2014 British Open and the PGA Championship, likes that just fine. It suits him, in fact, just as well as Augusta National suits his game.
“It’s great that he’s here,’’ McIlroy said. “Does it give people something else to talk about? Yes. But I’m not necessarily listening to anything that anyone is saying, so it doesn’t really make a difference to me. I’m just here to play golf. You can write the stories and I won’t read them and we’ll move on.’’
McIlroy knows exactly what is surrounding him in his quest to join only Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Woods by winning all four major championships.
McIlroy also is going for his third consecutive major championship victory, which only Woods and Hogan have accomplished. And should McIlroy win this week, he would be going to Chambers Bay in Washington in June trying to win the U.S. Open and become the only player other than Woods to win four consecutive major championships.
When Woods did it, it was called the “Tiger Slam.’’ So, as McIlroy readies to tee it up alongside Phil Mickels son and Ryan Moore on Thursday, he does so in pursuit of the “Rory Slam.’’
“My mind wander to winning this tournament and thinking what it would be like and what it would mean,’’ McIlroy said . “It hasn’t really wandered beyond that. It is very important to stay in the moment and stay in the present, and you can’t get too far ahead of yourself.
“We’ve seen in the past what this game can do to people, and you see guys that look to be at the top of their game one minute and the next minute they struggle. Golf is a very fickle game. You don’t take anything for granted.’’
He famously lost a four- shot, finalround lead in 2011 at Augusta in one of the historic collapses in tournament history, lowlighted by a melt- down 80 that plummeted him from leading the tournament with nine holes to play to a tie for 15th.
McIlroy has said, since that moment, that day has been one of the great learning tools in his professional life.
He won the U. S. Open two months later, a feat he said he would never have accomplished had he not gone through the Masters nightmare.
“I don’t feel like you learn that much with your wins and your successes,’’ McIlroy said in March. “You learn from failure.’’
Now, at age 25, he has four major championships and a total of 16 wins on his résumé. What’s next? Maybe a career Grand Slam. After that? Maybe the “Rory Slam.’’
“I look back when I did it in 2000 [ and] I couldn’t ask for a better place to do it at other than St. Andrews, the Home of Golf,’’ Woods said. “And for Rory, you couldn’t ask for the other better place to do it, which is here at Augusta. It doesn’t get much better than that. So he has that opportunity and he’s going to have that opportunity for decades to come. “I’m sure he’ll have many Green Jackets in his closet before it’s all said and done.’’
Phil Mickelson is the only other active player other than McIlroy who is one leg away from the career slam. He needs only a U.S. Open to have won all four majors. He, like Woods, predicted McIlroy would accomplish the career Grand Slam.
“I think the Masters is a golf course that is just very well-suited for Rory,’’ Mickelson so said.
“I’m sure he’ll win, , whether it’s this week or not, you never know. You always need a little bit of a break to win a tournament. Maybe he gets it thist week, maybe he doesn’t. But over the course of 15, 20years, he’ll get those breaks and he’ll win the Masters.’’ mark.cannnizzaro@nypost.com