As Rory McIlroy prepares to make his 17th appearance at the Masters, NBC Sports analyst, Paul McGinley has revealed his perspective on the Northern Irishman’s chances of winning the title. This would be McIlroy’s 11th attempt to complete his career Grand Slam and the 35-year-old will be eager to put memories of past misses behind him and secure the crown this time.
McIlroy heads into the Masters on the back of two wins on the PGA Tour while his rivals have not exactly been in threatening form. As a result, the World No. 2 has been widely tipped to finally end his wait for a Major which dates back to 2014. However, McIlroy is also coming off a missed cut and a T22 finish in his last two attempts but Paul McGinley believes the golf landscape currently favors the Northern Irishman.
McGinley Bullish About McIlroy’s Masters Chances
Paul McGinley has stoked up the heat after heightening the expectations of the 35-year-old. Expectations are now as high as ever as fans eagerly wait to see if McIlroy will end his Major drought and complete his career Grand Slam at the Masters this year.
“Without trying to pile too much pressure on Rory on already what’s there, there’s a couple of things lining up at this moment in time, but they have lined up in the past, remember, too, and things haven’t worked out for him,” McGinley said during the Masters press conference.
“Not only do you have Rory winning two of the biggest events so far on the PGA Tour, the fact that he has also won it with his B game, that’s new. That’s an evolution of Rory McIlroy. That’s different than what we’ve seen before. When you go to a tournament knowing that you have to produce your best to win, that’s one thing. But when you go there and you feel like I don’t have to be quite on my game here and I can still win, and I’ll tell you what, I can prove it, look what I did at the TPC, that gives you a broader sense of confidence. So that’s one area that Rory will be going with.”
The Mental Challenge and Bob Rotella’s Influence
McIlory has been working with renowned golf psychologist, Dr. Bob Rotella for close to two years and McGinley added that McIlroy will benefit from working with him as he seeks to end his Major drought. “The biggest challenge for Rory is the mental one. I know that Bob Rotella has been a huge influence on him in the last 18 months, and I think he’ll have him very well prepared now,” he stated.
“This is not their first rodeo going into the Masters working together,” McGinley continued. “They’ve had two or three runs at this now, and I think they will be coming up with a plan in terms of taking that pressure and kind of decimating it and putting it aside, so I think he’ll be well prepared mentally because of the work he’s doing with Bob. Two or three of those things all colliding together gets me a little bit buoyed. I’m not going to say over-buoyed, and I’m certainly not going to say giddy, but a little bit buoyed that he does have a strong chance this year in comparison to other years,” he concluded.
Main Photo Credit: © Erik Williams-Imagn Images
