With no Tiger Woods at the Masters, Rory McIlroy was asked if he was comfortable with potentially becoming “The Man” in golf.
McIlroy thinks he is ready, even though the answer wasn’t obvious.
“Did it take me a while to come to terms with it? Yes because it’s not something you ever thought starting out your career you were going to have to deal with or handle,” he said.
McIlroy is this year’s co-favorite, according to some oddsmakers. The 24-year-old native of Northern Ireland has won two majors (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship) as part of 12 victories as a pro.
It’s no secret that he easily could have had at least one more if not for an unforgettable collapse at the Masters.
He seemed to have one arm in a green jacket in 2011 after starting Sunday’s last round with a four-stroke lead. He collapsed on the back nine, as others before him have done but perhaps not as spectacularly, finishing with an 8-over 80. He said it’s the only time he ever cried because of golf.
At the same time, he said it contributed to the success he has experienced since.
“It was a big learning curve for me,” he said. “And I don’t know if I had not had that day, would I be the person and player that I am sitting here because I learned so much from it. I learned exactly not what to do under pressure and contention, and I definitely learned from that day how to handle my emotions better on the course.”
After winning two majors since that collapse, McIlroy made it seem like some of the pressure has been relieved.
“You know that you will have more opportunities, and you’ve take a couple of opportunities already,” he said.
Three-time Masters champion Gary Player said he hopes and assumes that McIlroy has learned important lessons about course management and matured since then.
“He’s a smart guy, unbelievable talent,” Player said. “He’s my pick this week, Rory, Jason Day or (Henrik) Stenson.”
McIlroy will tee off at 10:52 a.m. in Thursday’s first round with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
Sounding very much like “The Man,” McIlroy said he has no excuses if he doesn’t win. Much has been made of his switch in equipment from Titleist, with which he won his two majors, to Nike in 2013 and the effect it had on his game: no wins and five top-10 finishes in 16 PGA Tour events. He changed from being The Man next to The Man (Woods) to just another in a long line of players who have briefly challenged before falling back.
But, after a year of adjusting to the new equipment, things seem to be working this year.
He has one second-place finish as part of three top-10s in five events on the PGA Tour. He has banked $1.04 million after bringing home $1.8 million in PGA Tour winnings last year.
It’s not the PGA Tour-topping $8 million he won in 2012, when he was named the PGA Tour player of the year, but McIlroy seems headed back in a positive direction as he looks to win his first Masters and third major title.
“Everything’s in the right place to allow me to play well,” he said.
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