Eighth try the charm for Rory McIlroy and golf’s grand slam? The Masters awaits

Tiger Woods’ return to competition hogs the headlines in the days leading to the 86th Masters, and Rory McIlroy joins the chorus in cheering the possibilities.

Perhaps more than others, McIlroy also appreciates the spotlight’s harsh glare focused elsewhere.

Sure, his quest to become the sixth player to complete golf’s career grand slam still receives attention, but it’s secondary to the main event.

Rory flying under the radar? The warm-up gig at a Beetles concert?

“Not ... I try to shield myself from as much news as possible, especially this week,” he said Tuesday. “So not really, depending on whether you’re the center of attention or not.”

But ...

“I think it does make it nice with the practice rounds,” he added. “We were on the 9th green (Monday) when Tiger, JT (Justin Thomas) and Freddie (Couples) teed off, and it was a mass exodus from the 9th green to the first tee. Then, the back nine was lovely and quiet.

“That’s a nice way to get through the first (of the) week and sort of go about your preparation, I guess, unhindered.”

Nevertheless, once the competition begins Thursday, he will be back in the spotlight with the possibility of his joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods in winning golf’s four modern majors.

The potential to adding the Masters to his U.S. Open, British Open and two PGAs has been there going into its eight year.

“I would say (there’s) less pressure now,” McIlroy said. “My best finish was the first go-around to try to win the slam. Jordan (Spieth) played wonderfully that week. I played well, maybe not as well as I could, but I played pretty much up to my potential, and it just wasn’t good enough that week.”

McIlroy finished fourth that year (2015) and has four top-10 finishes since. He played in the final pairing in 2018, trailing leader Patrick Reed by three strokes.

“A strange day,” he remembered. “I didn’t have a great warmup on the range. I was missing everything left on the range that day, and then my first tee shot on the first hole missed the fairway on the right by 40 yards.”

He salvaged par there with what he called “a great 4” and missed a short eagle putt on No. 2.

“I was always just a little comfortable that day,” McIlroy said. “Some days you wake up like that, but I think I could have done a better job mentally of just sort of positioning my way around the golf course even though I didn’t have my best stuff.”

Reed shot a final 1-under-par 71. A day after roaring into position with a 7-under 65, McIlroy posted 3-over 74 and finished tied for fifth.

“I probably forced the issue a little too much when I didn’t really need to,” he said. “I think, again, going back to you don’t have to do spectacular things here. You just have to be solid and play your game and execute your shots and stay out of trouble and avoid the big numbers. If you do that, you’ll always hang around and have a chance at some point.”

On his way to the 2020 Masters title, Dustin Johnson reinforced the value of patience to McIlroy.

“I played with D.J. in the first two rounds in 2020, and I think he was 12-under-par after two rounds,” McIlroy said. “I got off the golf course — 12-under-par is a helluva score after two days here — but I wasn’t in awe of the way he played.

“It’s just he did the right things and put it in the right spots. He holed a few putts and took advantage of the par-5s. He basically did everything this golf course asks of you.”

Emulating that performance will be McIlroy’s goal.

“It’s as much of a chess game as anything else, and it’s just about putting yourself in the right positions and being disciplined and being patient and knowing that pars are good,” he said. “Even if you make a couple of pars on the par-5s, that’s OK, and you just keep moving forward.”

So, his plan is in place and he calls his game “in good shape, better than the results maybe have suggested the last few weeks.”

Between now and his 2:03 p.m. tee time Thursday, his schedule calls for fun with family during the par-3 contest and turning his off-course attention away from golf.

Then comes Thursday and he’s again in the spotlight’s glare.

“Look, I know if I play well, I’ll give myself chances to win this golf tournament,” he said. “It’s just a matter of going out there and executing the way you know you can. Stick to your game plan and be patient and disciplined.”

Maybe the eighth time is the charm.

Golfers with career grand slam

Gene Sarazen — first major 1922; complete slam 1935

Ben Hogan — first major 1946; complete slam 1953

Gary Player — first major 1959; complete slam 1965

Jack Nicklaus — first major 1963; complete slam 1966

Tiger Woods — first major 1997; complete slam 2000

Rory McIlroy major wins

Four victories in majors (2011 U.S. Open, 2012/2014 PGA Championship, 2014 British Open); missing Masters

Masters tee times this week

Thursday ... Friday

8 a.m. ... 10:56 a.m. – Jose Maria Olazabal, J.J. Spaun.

8:11 a.m. ... 11:18 a.m. – Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington, a ... Austin Greaser.

8:22 a.m. ... 11:29 a.m. – Larry Mize, Sepp Straka, Francesco Molinari.

8:33 a.m. ... 11:40 a.m. – Fred Couples, Garrick Higgo, Guido Migliozzi.

8:44 a.m. ... 11:51 a.m. – Vijay Singh, Ryan Palmer, K.H. Lee.

8:55 a.m. ... 12:02 p.m. – Min Woo Lee, Hudson Swafford, Cameron Young.

9:06 a.m. ... 12:13 p.m. – Stewart Cink, Brian Harman, Harry Higgs.

9:17 a.m. ... 12:24 p.m. – Zach Johnson, Si Woo Kim, a ... Aaron Jarvis.

9:39 a.m. ... 12:35 p.m. – Luke List, Matthew Wolff, Mackenzie Hughes.

9:50 a.m. ... 12:57 p.m. – Danny Willett, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch.

10:01 a.m. ... 1:08 p.m. – Max Homa, Kevin Na, Shane Lowry.

10:12 a.m. ... 1:19 p.m. – Kevin Kisner, Daniel Berger, Tommy Fleetwood.

10:23 a.m. ... 1:30 p.m. – Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Paul Casey.

10:34 a.m. ... 1:41 p.m. – Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen, Joaquin Niemann.

10:45 a.m. ... 1:52 p.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, a ... James Piot.

10:56 a.m. ... 2:03 p.m. – Adam Scott, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau.

11:18 a.m. ... 8 a.m. – Sandy Lyle, a ... Stewart Hagestad.

11:29 a.m. ... 8:11 a.m. – Lucas Glover, Erik van Rooyen, Cameron Champ.

11:40 a.m. ... 8:22 a.m. – Bernhard Langer, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Cameron Davis.

11:51 a.m. ... 8:33 a.m. – Charl Schwartzel, Robert MacIntyre, a ... Laird Shepherd.

12:02 p.m. ... 8:44 a.m. – Gary Woodland, Justin Rose, Takumi Kanaya.

12:13 p.m. ... 8:55 a.m. – Lee Westwood, Russell Henley, Corey Conners.

12:24 p.m. ... 9:06 a.m. – Patrick Reed, Seamus Power, Lucas Herbert.

12:35 p.m. ... 9:17 a.m. – Bubba Watson, Tom Hoge, a ... Keita Nakajima.

12:57 p.m. ... 9:39 a.m. – Marc Leishman, Webb Simpson, Sungjae Im.

1:08 p.m. ... 9:50 a.m. – Sergio Garcia, Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III.

1:19 p.m. ... 10:01 a.m. – Abraham Ancer, Tyrrell Hatton, Sam Burns.

1:30 p.m. ... 10:12 a.m. – Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Collin Morikawa.

1:41 p.m. ... 10:23 a.m. – Will Zalatoris, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm.

1:52 p.m. ... 10:34 a.m. – Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele.

2:03 p.m. ... 10:45 a.m. – Matthew Fitzpatrick, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy.

This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 6:00 AM.