Bay Hill: As if this year’s Masters needed any more of a fanfare, Rory McIlroy’s remarkable return to prime form has added its own bugle call. After winning his first title in 18 months on Sunday, the Ulsterman warned his rivals that he has “a gift for this game” and that he is “hugely confident” of becoming just the sixth player in history to complete the career grand slam at Augusta in two weeks’ time.
The bookmakers do not disagree, hauling him into favouritism in the ever-changing landscape of the season’s first major. It seems every time the new week rolls around, so the Masters betting list must be radically redrawn after the performance of yet another golfing heavyweight the previous night in the United States.
Certainly, McIlroy’s wondrous success at the Arnold Palmer Invitational had the satchel men frantically lurching for the pencils to cross out the 16-1 on offer. McIlroy’s odds have been cut in half to 8-1.
McIlroy’s candidacy for the Green Jacket has never seemed as alluring in a build-up as it does right now. “It’s huge,” McIlroy said, following his leap from world No 13 up to seventh. “The shots I was able to hit under pressure, coming down the stretch, the two five-irons into the par-threes on the back nine, the wedge shots, the putts, the drive on 16, the three-wood on 18 after the last three-wood I hit on that hole I hit out of bounds left on Thursday.
“All these little barriers you have to overcome, whether it be physical or mental. It’s huge for my confidence going into Augusta. I kept saying I didn’t need a win going into the Masters to feel like I had a chance. Thankfully I’ve now got one.”
What a cast list he will be up against between those Georgia pines. For the previous few months, McIlroy had faced queries about the chances of Justin Thomas, Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Bubba Watson and, of course, the Resurrection Man, himself, Tiger Woods.
With his own game supposedly in the doghouse, McIlroy only appeared useful to the golf writers for a form-guide and a quote, and that irony was not lost on him in the hours after his triumph at Bay Hill.
“Look, those guys are my friends, so I’ve been delighted for them,” he said. “I just hope they get some questions about me now.”
There can be no doubt about that. The 28-year-old’s final-round 64 to see off a stellar leader board featuring Woods, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Bryson DeChambeau was McIlroy’s rebirth.
In the midst of his desultory run in the US, with two missed cuts in four events going into Bay Hill, McIlroy assured anyone who would listen “I’m not far away”.
“Nobody believed me,” McIlroy said with a smile. “This is a game of fine margins and I knew all I needed was a tweak.”
A brief putting lesson last Monday from former US Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon effected a remarkable transformation. “Brad freed up my head more than my stroke,” McIlroy said. “I was getting a little bogged down by technical or mechanical thoughts. The objective is to get that ball in the hole and that’s it. I think I lost sight of that.”
The ball dropped with ridiculous haste as he reeled off five birdies in the last six holes. The 20-footer on the 18th was the grandstand moment he deserved. Looking on, playing partner Rose declared he had “never seen Rory putt so well” and, despite the Englishman’s own self-belief in going one better at Augusta than last year, he agreed with McIlroy’s bullishness.
“Rory just played incredible golf, and it’s great to see world-class players do that,” Rose said.
There was only one regret for McIlroy — that The King was not there to greet him, as was always Palmer’s custom. “I wish he would have been at the top of the hill to shake my hand, but hopefully he’s proud of me with the way I played that back nine,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy will now play in this week’s WGC Match Play before a week off leading up to Augusta and he clearly cannot wait. “I know that me being 100 per cent healthy is good enough to not just win on the PGA Tour, but win a lot,” McIlroy said. “I never lost belief. I know I’ve got a gift for this game and, if I put the time in, I can make a lot of it. I guess that’s what’s kept me going.”
