Rory McIlroy admits that being excluded from part of the golfing world due to his lack of success at the Masters affects him, as he remains hopeful of a win at the esteemed tournament. As the first major of the season is set to commence on Thursday, the 35-year-old is eager to overcome his issues at Augusta and finally claim the coveted green jacket that has eluded him throughout his career.
During an appearance on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast in January 2024, McIlroy openly discussed his golfing career and confessed that his extended wait for a Masters win continues to cast a long shadow in various aspects of his life.
Ex-Premier League footballer, Gary Neville, inquired what more McIlroy could achieve in the sport before his retirement, and he replied: “I mean I’d love to win the Masters. It’s the only major that I haven’t won.”
Arsenal legend Ian Wright then chimed in, admitting that if McIlroy doesn’t stand a chance of winning, he has little interest in watching the remainder of the tournament. Wright also touched on another aspect of the Masters that annoys him as he said: “The only thing I don’t like about the Masters is I get in there and there’s some blokes who can go in that place with their green jacket and I can’t go.”
McIlroy, with a hint of self-deprecating humour, replied: “How do you think I feel? That’s the same [for me]! You need a green jacket!”
This joke not only reveals the seasoned golfer’s ability to make light of his own shortcomings, but also underlines his longing for the elusive Masters trophy.
Neville was also curious about why the allure of the renowned Masters tournament is so high, to which McIlroy responded with high praise for the Augusta event. The Northern Irishman explained: “St Andrew’s is where the game started but it has become this like cathedral of golf in some way and all the greats of the game have won there in the past.
“It’s the only major that we go back to each and every year on the same golf course so it just becomes this like [big thing]. It just seems like it gets bigger and bigger every year, and it’s the first major of the year too so everyone is more hyped up and more [excited].”
During the 2024 Masters, McIlroy’s performance didn’t live up to expectations; he began the opening day on a solid note but ultimately tied for 22nd place with a lacklustre four-over par. The triumph belonged to Scottie Scheffler, who concluded the contest with an impressive 11-under score.
McIlroy elaborated on his approach for future tournaments, planning to get rid of distractions and focus more intently on his game.
When asked about his approach to handling the pressure of a good or bad start in golf, McIlroy said: “They’re different sides of the same coin in terms of like having to stay in the present, in the moment, all the cliche stuff. But, even a good one this year, I shot even par the first day, which was like an average enough first day, but it wasn’t terrible.
“And I was on the first green on the second morning and I saw Brooks Koepka was coming up the eighth and there’s the big white scoreboard there by the eighth green and I saw that he’d already got to 10 under and I’m even par. But I’m like it’s only 19 holes into the tournament but I’m there thinking ‘jeez I’m 10 behind already’, like I have to start pressing.
“But actually, what’s worked best for me is like I say, ‘I can’t control what he does, I can’t control the leaderboard’, and like the worst thing I did that day was look at the leaderboard because if I hadn’t have known, [it would’ve been fine]. The winning score ended up being 10 under, I think.
“So I thought I needed to get to 10 under in the space of like 18 or 27 holes, when I actually could have said ‘okay chill out it’s fine, go and play your normal game and see where you’re at’. But I think whenever I’ve gotten into trouble, especially at that tournament, is when I start looking around and I’m like, ‘oh well, he’s doing this, and I should be there’, and you start putting pressure on yourself.”
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