With career slam in sight, McIlroy embraces role as top player

Making history carries a weight with it that not every athlete can handle. Many bend under the burden. Most lack what it takes.

Rory McIlroy embraces the opportunity with a warm energy that is unfamiliar in golf. With all eyes on his quest to complete the career Grand Slam and win a third consecutive major championship in the place of his most memorable meltdown, he’s not shying from the spotlight.

“Of course I want to be that guy,” McIlroy said. “I’ve spent well over a year of my career at world No. 1, so I’m pretty used to it by now.”

If there was any doubt whether the 25-year-old could handle all the trappings associated with mega-stardom, 2014 should have eliminated that. In the spring, there was the public break-off of his high-profile engagement with tennis star Caro­line Wozniacki. There was the protracted lawsuit over millions of dollars with his former management agency that complicated his friendship with countryman and Ryder Cup teammate Graeme McDow­ell.

All McIlroy did was channel everything into an epic summer and fall. Days after his engagement ended, he rallied to win the Euro­pean Tour’s flagship event at Went­worth. He won the British Open, the World Golf Championship event at Firestone and the PGA Championship in succession. He went 6-under through six holes to administer a singles beatdown of Rickie Fowler that set the tone for another Ryder Cup victory. He simmered down with three consecutive runner-up finishes on three continents to build a gaping lead at No. 1.
“I said it last year, golf is waiting for someone like that to step forward, put their hand up and win the big tournaments and sort of become (dominant),” McIlroy said. “I think it’s harder to become as dominant these days with technology and course conditions and the depth of the fields. … Yeah, this is the position I want to be in, and I want to be in it as long as I can.”

With Tiger Woods desperately seeking any semblance of his former game and Phil Mickelson working to stave off the advancing years, McIlroy has taken over as the face of golf. He’s the target everyone is chasing, and he’s not afraid of it.

“I don’t feel any extra pressure to be the face of the game,” he said. “I think the game’s in great hands, not just with people like myself but some of the young stars that are starting to come through and play well. … I don’t feel like there’s any extra pressure on me or from anyone else to carry the game forward. I think it’s going to be just fine.”

What makes him so comfortable?

“Because it’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “You know, I would be wasting my time if I was out there practicing as much as I do and putting as much into it if I didn’t want to be in this position.”

The position McIlroy has reached the brink of so soon is a fraternity of golf’s greatest icons. With four major titles already, including three legs of the career Grand Slam, he’s one green jacket away from joining the game’s most elite group. The career slam club seats only five members – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods.

Big deal?

“The Grand Slam at 25?” said Nicklaus with an are-you-kidding-me expression on his face. “That’s pretty big.”

Is time on his side?

The career slam conversation started in McIlroy’s news conference immediately after winning the British Open at Hoylake, when he said he was “looking forward to next April.”

It ratcheted up with his subsequent victory at the PGA Champion­ship, giving him the chance to join Woods and Hogan as the only players to win three consecutive majors. He’s the third player in history – joining Woods and Nick Price – to arrive at Augusta holding the previous two majors and the No. 1 ranking.

The hype during the intervening eight months has created an oddly now-or-never intensity about this Masters. It’s a curious expectation considering McIlroy is only 25 and not 45, as Mickelson will be when his next chance at a U.S. Open win to complete his slam arrives.

“Yeah, I think there is a bit of a false sense of urgency,” McIlroy said, “because this isn’t going to be, touch wood, it’s not going to be the only Masters I play in for the rest of my career. So I will hopefully have many more opportunities to try and win it.

“But yeah, after my previous couple of performances in the majors, I can see why it has got like this. I mean, I’m going for three majors in a row, going for my first Masters. If I win Augusta, I have the chance to hold all four at one point. There’s a lot of story lines. I know there’s a lot that can be talked about, but I’m trying not to think about it too much.”
Time is on McIlroy’s side, but obtaining the career slam isn’t something that lingered on the plates of those who achieved it.

Woods was 24 when he completed his career slam on his first attempt in the 2000 British Open at St. Andrews, just one month after his first U.S. Open victory. Nicklaus was 26 when he completed his set on his third attempt in the 1966 British Open at Muirfield. Gary Player was 29 when he closed the deal on his third attempt in the 1965 U.S. Open at Bellerive.

The older slammers had their own unique circumstances in an era before the modern Grand Slam was even defined. Sarazen was 33 when his famous double eagle at No. 15 helped win the first Masters he played in 1935. He’d won each of the other three majors by age 30.

Hogan was already 34 before he won his first major at the PGA in 1946 and 40 when he won his last to complete his slam in his only British Open appearance in 1953 at Carnoustie.

Time didn’t help the champions who came up one leg short. Arnold Palmer was 31 when he got his third leg at the 1961 British Open. He played in 34 more PGA Cham­pion­ships after that, finishing second three times until he was 40 in 1970, but never any closer.

Sam Snead was 36 when he won the 1949 Masters and finished second two months later at the U.S. Open. Though he remained competitive into his 50s, his tortured history in the national championship counted seven more top-10 finishes, including another runner-up and a third-place finish, in 22 failed tries to complete the career slam.

Tom Watson was 32 when he notched his third leg at the 1982 U.S. Open. He teed it up in 24 PGAs after that seeking his slam but never got closer than fifth in 1993.

Lee Trevino was 35 when he won the PGA in 1974, but he never finished better than 10th in 16 more tries at the Masters.

Ray Floyd was almost 44 when he earned his third leg at the 1986 U.S. Open, and he never seriously threatened in nine more attempts at the British Open after that.

Other greats with three legs of the slam had limited or no opportunities. Byron Nelson played the British Open only twice, in 1937 and 1955, finishing fifth the first time. Walter Hagen held the PGA, U.S. and British Open trophies by age 29 in 1922, but he was 41 and past his prime when Augusta National started its event in 1934.

Likewise, Tommy Armour played his first of seven Masters four years after his British victory in 1931 and never did better than eighth. Jim Barnes was done competing in majors two years before the Masters was founded.

Palmer, who calls McIlroy “a godsend to the game of golf,” expects the Nor­thern Irishman to join him at the Cham­pions Dinner eventually and complete the feat he never could.

“Oh, I don’t think there will be any question about it,” Palmer said.

Greg Norman understands that there are no green-jacket guarantees at the Masters but likes McIlroy’s chances.

“He’s going to walk into Augusta National feeling good about his game,” Norman said. “He’ll be Rory, and if it works out for him, great, he’ll wear that green jacket proudly. And if it doesn’t work out for him, he’ll go back next year with the same attitude. I love his demeanor, I love his game and I love his approach to his life.”

McIlroy’s peers don’t believe he feels any larger weight of expectation.

“You’re saying he’s under pressure, but I don’t know if he feels that he is,” said Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters winner. “I don’t think he’s got a lot to lose, to be honest, at 25 going for the Grand Slam. If he doesn’t win it, he’s going to get a lot more. If I was Rory, I’d think like that.”

McIlroy confirmed that’s his approach.

“I don’t really feel any more anticipation this year than I do any other year,” he said.

Hype and hardship

McIlroy is one of those rare talents who fulfilled early forecasts. Plenty considered him a sure thing despite the fanfare when he arrived as a charming, mop-topped teenager being enough to weigh a lesser talent down.

Darren Clarke tagged his fellow Northern Irishman as special when he first saw him at age 14.

“The next No. 1,” Ernie Els called him in 2009.

“By far the best young player I’ve ever played with,” declared Geoff Ogilvy when McIlroy was 19.

“Better than Tiger was at that age,” Mark O’Meara said of the rookie pro.

It didn’t take long for McIlroy to start living up to the hype. In the wake of his current success, it’s easy to forget how close he came to his own “Rory Slam” at age 21.

He shot 63 in the first round of the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews, finishing third despite a second-round 80 in a gale. He missed a pair of short putts on the 15th and 16th holes Sunday at the 2010 PGA, missing a playoff by a stroke at Whistling Straits. He was still leading at the Sunday turn in the 2011 Masters before melting down to shoot 80.

Instead of retreating from those early scars, McIlroy bounced right back and won the 2011 U.S. Open in a wire-to-wire eight-stroke romp at Congressional.

Those failures, especially the harsh lesson at Augusta, were critical to his evolution.

“I don’t feel like you learn that much with your wins or success,” McIlroy said. “I think you learn about yourself and you learn that you can handle the pressure or you can do certain things under pressure that you mightn’t have done before. But definitely during your losses is where you learn the most. I’ve always said that the last round at Augusta in ’11 was a huge learning curve for me and I took a lot from that day, just how I approach final rounds, and especially when you’re in the lead and there’s a bit of pressure there.”

Challenges at Augusta

That the Masters looms as McIl­roy’s final major hurdle might seem the biggest shock of all.

“Yeah, if you had of told me that I’d win a U.S. Open before a Masters, I’d have been surprised,” he admitted. “But the U.S. Open that I won was quite different than what U.S. Opens usually are. … It just so happens that this is the one that I haven’t won yet. It’s not a bad thing. It’s a nice position to be in going into Augusta this year.”

Last year was the closest McIlroy has come to a clean sheet at Augusta in six Masters starts, tying for eighth despite getting outscored by noncompeting amateur marker Jeff Knox in the third round.

For the obvious strengths that mesh his game with Augusta National, there are elements that must be improved to get over the line.

“He tends to miss to the left,” said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, a first-round co-leader at Augusta in 1999. “Well, at Augusta National, it’s not so much the miss to the left that kills you, it’s the thought of missing left that kills you. He’s not the greatest scrambler; he’s middle of the pack. He’s not the most consistent putter; he’s streaky. Those are three key areas at Augusta National. It is no coincidence that that is the only major he hasn’t won.”

McIlroy recently bemoaned some issues with his draw in two unfulfilled starts in Florida and stressed that he’d spend the last two weeks before the Masters working exclusively on the shots he needs to play Augusta.

“My inability to hit the ball right‑to‑left isn’t something that you want going into Augusta,” he said. “Something I want to try and work on a little bit.

“But sometimes you need a little, you know, kick in the backside to make you realize what you need to do. … I feel like it’s given me clarity on what I needed to do with my game going into the last few weeks. So spend a lot of time around the short game area, hitting a lot of putts inside 6 feet – all the stuff that you need to do in tournament play to help you shoot a score to help you turn 68s into 65s, stuff like that. It’s all about sharpness, wedge play around the greens.”

The mental game

Winning the Masters is hard enough without the extra pressure of outside expectations. The most comparable success story is Woods in 2001 seeking to become the first player to win four consecutive majors. As he so often handled the hype at his peak, Woods cruised to a two-shot victory and his second green jacket.

“I’m amazed I was able to play as well as I did when I needed to do it,” Woods said.

Price came to the 1995 Masters ranked No. 1 in the world after winning five times in 1994, including the British Open and PGA. But he didn’t share the same comfort as Woods with Augusta National and missed the cut.

“Of all the major championships we played, Augusta was probably the hardest course for me to win on because I hit the ball a little lower and I wasn’t really a great fast greens putter,” Price said. “So going in there, I always felt like double the pressure. And a lot of times, I missed the cut. I went in a few times playing really well but got so frustrated with the golf course.”

While McIlroy has had his own frustrations figuring out Augusta, his game doesn’t compare with Price’s.

“Rory is a totally different kettle of fish,” Price said. “He hits the ball perfectly for Augusta. I think he’s on a mission, to be honest. I love watching him play because he’s got that bounce in his stride and he always looks upbeat. … I think he can handle the pressure. He’s won (four) majors already. … Kind of like looking at Tiger in 2000. He drives the ball as far and as straight as anyone I’ve seen.”

Padraig Harrington came to the Masters in 2009 ranked No. 5 in the world having won the 2008 British Open and PGA. But the Irishman left with a tie for 35th instead of extending his “Paddy Slam” quest.

“I was trying to get my game ready for a date three months ahead, whereas I should have been trying to get my game ready for the start of the season,” Harrington said.

Harrington’s sports psychologist, Bob Rotella, spoke of the same trap that could confront McIlroy as well.

“How many times do you have a chance at something like this? You can start thinking about it too much,” Rotella said. “If you do that, it will eat your lunch.”

McIlroy insists that won’t be a concern to him like it was for the constantly tinkering Harrington.

“Not put too much emphasis on it; treat it like I have done every other Masters,” he said. “It’s a matter of going there and being prepared but not over-thinking it.”

‘There’s always buildup’

McIlroy is riding a wave of momentum with confidence much like Woods 15 years ago. Like Woods, he’s not content just finishing second.

“I’ve got nine PGA Tour wins, which in two or three years isn’t too bad; it’s pretty good,” he said. “But I want to make that a lot more. I want to get myself into contention a lot more. I’ve been on a good run over the past sort of six months, especially, finishing off on the European Tour last year and into this year where I’ve been first or second, seven events in a row or whatever it is.

“I guess the hardest thing for me, anyway, is being motivated enough to stay in the position that you’re in, resetting goals all the time and keep trying to set the bar higher for yourself. … I don’t feel any of the external pressure, really, but it’s the pressure that I put on myself to play to the best of my ability and motivating myself to go out and practice every day and work hard to try and get better.”

There is no place McIlroy can escape the external pressure. He’s been asked about the Masters at every news conference.

With Woods absent from the stage, McIlroy is the game’s biggest lightning rod for attention. His every water ball, flung 3-iron, 63 or 74 is studied and critiqued for what it means regarding Augusta.

He’s fine with the scrutiny.

“I think I’d rather have the questions, because it’s obviously a great position to be in going into Augusta and having it be the only major that I haven’t won,” he said. “There’s always excitement and anticipation and hype that surrounds Augusta every year, and I feel it regardless if I’m going in as the favorite or under the radar or whatever. … There’s always hype. There’s always buildup. My name is getting thrown around a little bit more than it used to, but I’m OK with that.”

Peers don’t think he’ll buckle under the stress.

“He has such a great relaxed attitude when things go bad, so he’ll have the same relaxed attitude when things are going well,” Paul Casey said. “Even when all the pressure in the world is mounted upon you, he’s the same no matter what.”

The general consensus, though proven dangerous in golf, is that McIlroy’s eventually winning a green jacket is inevitable.

“He has his whole life to play that one golf course and with that talent, is there anybody who is going to bet against him winning two, three or four times there?” Chamblee said. “Soo­ner or later, all those things he needs to improve on are going to come together that week and he’s going to be the sixth guy to complete the Grand Slam.”