AUGUSTA — Like most who arrive at the Masters for the first time, Rory McIlroy took in the wonder of driving down Magnolia Lane and simply enjoyed the view.
There were no expectations, no thoughts about how the golf course might suit him, no fears of failure.
“It was just an absolute thrill of a lifetime to drive down that lane at whatever it was, 19 years old, and be playing in my first Masters,” McIlroy said.
That was 16 years ago, putting into perspective the longevity of McIlroy’s career to this point, with all manner of accomplishments.
There are the 28 PGA Tour wins, 18 DP World Tour victories, four major championships.
There are the three FedEx Cup titles, the four Race to Dubai titles, the seven appearances for Europe in the Ryder Cup.
But no Masters.
It is perhaps the only thing missing from what is a Hall of Fame career regardless. And now, making his 17th appearance, McIlroy is presented with the same opportunity he’s faced for the past 10 years—trying to complete the career Grand Slam.
With two victories on the PGA Tour this year to date and coming off a Players Championship win three weeks ago, McIlroy is understandably getting considerable attention as the first round of the year’s first major championship approaches.
And it is fair to wonder if this is finally his time.
“It’s just narratives. It’s noise,” McIlroy said. “It’s just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year.
“Look, I understand the narrative and the noise, and there’s a lot of anticipation and buildup coming into this tournament each and every year, but I just have to keep my head down and focus on my job.”
McIlroy was the first player in the Augusta National media center Tuesday and not one question was about the career Grand Slam, accomplished just five previous times—Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
That is likely because the subject has been bantered about so much that it is not of much use at this point. McIlroy knows the stakes as do those asking the questions.
“I try to prepare for this golf tournament pretty similarly to what I do most other weeks,” McIlroy said. “I think because it’s a golf course we go back to every year, maybe there’s a little more knowledge that’s needed for certain shots, and definitely you’re going to face particular shots on this golf course that you don’t really face any other week of the year.
“So coming up here a couple of times, doing a little bit more preparation on some of those shots on the golf course I think is important.
“But once we get into the tournament week like now, you try to treat it the same and you just try to go through—basically check the boxes. I want to do certain things and I want to do my drills on the putting green and make sure I get my range sessions in just so that I’ve checked the boxes and feel as comfortable as I can going out there on Thursday morning.”
For all the talk about McIlroy and Augusta, it is somewhat surprising how rarely he has actually contended at a place many would have believed it would be the most likely major for him to win.
In 16 starts, McIlroy has just seven top-10 finishes, his best a second in 2022 when he began the final round in a tie for ninth and shot 64.
Since leading through 54 holes in 2011—and then shooting a final-round 80 to tie for 15th, McIlroy has been in the top five just four times. Perhaps his best opportunity came in 2018 when he was three shots back, in the final pairing with Patrick Reed, and shot 75 to tie for fifth.
McIlroy visited Augusta twice in the lead-up to tournament week, on the Monday prior to and after the Texas Children’s Houston Open. That type of preparation can’t hurt, especially since Monday was a washout and the two days leading up to the event can be long and arduous.
A good start would help. Only one player—Tiger Woods—was outside of the top 10 in the last 20 years and went on to win. McIlroy has only been in the top 10 after the first round three times, the most recent in 2018.
McIlroy certainly has plenty of good to draw upon. He’s probably played better than anyone in the world over the past six months.
Since finishing second to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open, McIlroy has had 10 top-five finishes worldwide including three victories.
“I think over the course of my career I think I’ve showed quite a lot of resilience from setbacks, and I feel like I’ve done the same again, especially post-June last year and the golf that I’ve played since then, and it’s something that I’m really proud of,” McIlroy said.
“Look, you have setbacks and you have disappointments, but as long as you can learn from them and move forward and try to put those learnings into practice I feel like is very, very important. I feel like I’ve showed that quite a lot over the course of my career.
“When you have a long career like I have had, luckily, you sort of just learn to roll with the punches, the good times, the bad times, knowing that if you do the right work and you practice the right way, that those disappointments will turn into good times again pretty soon.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy Is Trying to Block Out the Noise Before Yet Another Masters Chance.