If Rory McIlroy had been asked to draw up the ideal preparation for his latest attempt to win the Masters, it would surely have looked identical to his 2025 season to date.
Not content with winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at what he called “one of the cathedrals of golf”, McIlroy also claimed the Players Championship at another famous venue, defeating JJ Spaun in a play-off at Sawgrass.
Feeling the need for one more start before Augusta, McIlroy then recovered from a slow start to finish fifth in the Houston Open, improving his score in every round to achieve his goal of keeping the “confidence bucket” full.
It was perhaps only the fact that Scottie Scheffler also found form in Houston that ensured the world number one and defending champion remained favourite to win his third Masters title ahead of McIlroy, but the Northern Irishman will rightly care little about that.
As it has been ever since he won the Open Championship in 2014 to secure the third leg of a career grand slam, McIlroy’s sole focus will be on claiming a first green jacket to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in having claimed all four major titles.
The 35-year-old has finished inside the top 10 in six of his last 10 starts at Augusta and was in the last group in the final round in 2018, only to struggle to a closing 74 and end up six shots behind playing partner Patrick Reed.
McIlroy started the round three shots behind Reed, who bogeyed the first and failed to birdie the par-five second. McIlroy had an eagle putt from four feet on the same hole to tie for the lead but missed and bogeyed two of the next three.
That means his best chance to win also remains his worst memory of Augusta, namely when he squandered a four-shot lead in 2011 in a painful final-round collapse.
While McIlroy will be making his 17th consecutive Masters appearance, Scheffler will enjoy the fabled drive down Magnolia Lane for just the sixth time as he bids to defy the odds and retain his title.
Woods, Nicklaus and Nick Faldo are the only players to have won back-to-back Masters, with defending champions having a relatively poor record in recent times.
Scheffler was 10th when defending the green jacket in 2023, while Jon Rahm could only finish 45th last year. Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Danny Willett all missed the cut a year on from their Masters triumphs.
Given that he has finished no worse than 19th in his five starts to date it would be a massive surprise if Scheffler were to suffer the same fate, especially after his runners-up finish in Houston signalled a return to top form after some relatively underwhelming results.
Open champion and US PGA winner Xander Schauffele also recorded his best finish of an injury-hit season in his most recent start, while US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau – who carded an opening 65 at Augusta 12 months ago – has recorded just one top-10 finish in four LIV events this year.
