Will this be the day Rory McIlroy finally conquers his Augusta National demons and wins his first Masters title? Maybe, but to make it happen, McIlroy will have to contend with “the most pressure any player has ever faced” in major history. At least that’s the reality according to TV analyst Brandel Chamblee.
Rory McIlroy’s Masters pressure cooker
Thanks to his impressive third-round 66 on Saturday at Augusta National, McIlroy has a two-shot lead heading into Masters Sunday. But with Bryson DeChambeau nipping at his heels, McIlroy faces a difficult physical and mental task on Sunday.
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Despite his four major wins, McIlroy hasn’t won one in over 10 years. Lately, he’s regularly been in contention but has seen major titles slip through his grasp repeatedly.
The most recent instance was at last year’s U.S. Open, when McIlroy missed multiple short putts late on Sunday to hand the title to, who else, DeChambeau.
Making matters worse, McIlroy has significant scar tissue at the Masters, having led the 2011 event by four before melting down on the back nine on Sunday. He’s had solid finishes since then but hasn’t been in the same position again, until this year.
Adding to the pressure of the moment, McIlroy would complete the career grand slam with a Masters victory on Sunday. He would become just the sixth golfer in history to do so, and first since Tiger Woods 25 years ago.
Chamblee on McIlroy’s tough Masters task
Once the third round was complete, Chamblee appeared on Golf Channel’s “Live at the Masters” segment, where he first acknowledged that McIlroy is in the best position to win a major he’s been in for years.
“The improvements that he’s made technically have allowed him to be more free mentally. And you put those two together and you’re talking about a guy who has won 28 times on the PGA Tour, seven of those victories were by four shots or more, two of those, famously, were by eight shots,” Chamblee said Saturday night. “Only Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have won multiple major championships by eight shots or more since 1900. That’s it, Tiger and Rory. What we’re seeing now is the fella who won those major championships by eight.”
But then Chamblee added a massive disclaimer for McIlroy, stating that no pro golfer has ever experienced the intense pressure McIlroy will encounter on Masters Sunday.
“Having said that, what he’s about to do tomorrow, I would argue, is the most pressure any player has ever faced in the history of a final round of a major championship,” Chamblee said.
Chamblee added that in terms of the pressure pro golfers have faced at majors throughout history, “the only two even close in my mind” would be Bobby Jones trying to complete the grand slam in 1930, and Tiger Woods trying to complete the Tiger Slam at the 2011 Masters.
The positive side to the challenge in front of McIlroy on Sunday is that if he does win, the intense pressure he faced will only make the win sweeter. But on the flipside, should he falter and lose again, the pressure will only increase for next time.