McIlroy finishes like a train but damage is already done

Inside Track with John McIntyre

NOBODY played the final 45 holes of the Masters better than Rory McIlroy – he was 15 under par for that section of golf’s most compelling tournament – but the damage was already done. The hot pre-tournament favourite just didn’t come out of those blocks quickly enough as the pressure and hype clearly unhinged the World’s number one.

In the build up to the Masters, McIlroy hardly helped his cause by fuelling expectations of becoming only the sixth golfer to complete a grand slam in the Majors. He publicly stated that if his career finished without winning a green jacket, it would be a major disappointment. He even qualified that statement by insisting he had the potential to win “multiple” Masters.

If ever a young sportsman was setting himself up for a big fall, it was McIlroy. Naturally, he can’t control the massive media coverage in the build up to Augusta, but he needed to be much more sanguine in his pre-tournament comments. Furthermore, inviting pop star Niall Horan of One Direction to act as his caddy in the par three competition on the eve of the Masters was only helping to keep the spotlight on him.

McIlroy hadn’t handled the pressure well in the closing round of the 2011 Masters when holding a four shot lead on the first tee. Instead, he imploded on the back nine when eventually dropping out of the top ten. Overall, for all the theories that Augusta is tailor-made for McIlroy’s power driving and high approach shots, his best finish in the Masters prior to the 2015 edition was joint eighth last year.

Against that background, the 25-year-old became e a hostage to fortune by also boldly stating that it would be “unthinkable” if he never won the Masters. McIlroy’s belief in his own ability to conquer the unique undulations of Augusta is admirable in one sense, but who is he trying to convince? Chasing a third consecutive Major triumph, he was never going to slip in under the radar, but his bullish public comments did him absolutely no favours in terms of keeping the press frenzy at bay.

An opening round of one under par was no disaster, but McIlroy didn’t look particularly comfortable on the golf course and it was more of a stuttering effort rather than failing to exploit a series of birdie opportunities. After a careless double bogey at the ninth hole in the second round, he was in real danger of not making the cut as he stood at three over bar. Shoulders drooping and clearly ill at ease, McIlroy now had to stand up and show what he was made of in terms of character.

In similar situations in the past, the Northern Ireland man has struggled to get any momentum going, but from that point onwards in Augusta last week, nobody ransacked the course more than McIlroy. He was a staggering 17 shots behind the brilliant pillar-to-post winner, Jordan Spieth, halfway through his second round, but by the end of the tournament, McIlroy had closed the gap to six in taking fourth place on his own. That took courage and some quality shot-making even if a first green jacket was never within hailing distance.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.