AUGUSTA, Ga. — As if expectations weren’t already loblolly pine-high for Rory McIlroy heading into this 89th Masters, the hype train added a few more cars Thursday morning when three legendary former champions named McIlroy as their favorite to prevail this week.
“I think Rory McIlroy will win the Masters this year, and I hope he does because it would give golf a great boost to have another winner of the [career] grand slam,” Gary Player, winner of three green jackets, said in a press conference following the ceremonial opening tee shots struck by Player, Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus.
Watson agreed, saying, “I just have a gut feeling that Rory is the guy that’s going to win.”
And Jack?
More of the same.
“Ditto,” he said. “OK, move on.”
But Nicklaus, in fact, wasn’t quite ready to move on, because he wanted to share a particular insight that has him bullish about McIlroy’s chances.
“I sat down with Rory last week and we had lunch, and we were talking, and I said, ‘Rory, I know you prepared for Augusta. Tell me how you’re going to play the golf course,” Nicklaus began. “We went through it shot for shot. And he got done with the round, and I didn’t open my mouth. And I said, ‘Well, I wouldn’t change a thing. That’s exactly the way I would try to play the golf course.”
By which he meant, attack when you’re in position and play conservatively when you’re not. Simple formula but not one that’s always easy to execute — certainly not on this temptress of a golf course where the weight of history lurks around every corner.
“Discipline is what Rory has lacked in my opinion,” Nicklaus continued. “He’s got all the shots. He’s got all the game. He certainly is as talented as anybody in the game. But if you look, go back and see his history the last few years, he gets to a place a lot of times an 8 or a 7 pops up, and that keeps you from getting to where he needs to go.”
In fact, McIlroy hasn’t made a 7 at the Masters since 2013, when he made two in five holes (third round, Nos. 11 and 15, en route to a 77), and he has never made an 8. But he has made plenty of 6s — 17 in his last 10 Masters starts — and he’s well aware of the importance of damage control at Augusta National.
“I’ve preached this the whole year, but just managing my game and minimizing my mistakes,” McIlroy said Wednesday after the Par 3 Contest. “If I get myself out of position, putting myself back in position. Just playing really smart and being really logical and rational about everything. If I can do that for four days, I feel like I’ll have a good chance.”
Check back Sunday.
