Rory McIlroy
Numero Uno
For two years running, the Northern Irishman has been favoured to win his first Green Jacket but despite some stellar individual rounds, he has so far flattered to deceive. McIlroy’s calamitous back nine on Sunday in 2011 en route to a final round 80 surely won’t happen again if he makes the turn in the lead this year. Or could it?
Nobody doubts McIlroy's talent and desire but so far in 2013, we’ve had serious cause to doubt his form as he’s lurched from missed cuts, first round defeats and dentally-inspired walk offs in the first two months of the year.
Much has been said of his off season equipment switch and the time it’s taken for him to be fully comfortable again with every club in the bag. At his supreme best, he’s untouchable from tee to green, and freakishly good on them, but we’ve seen precious little of that so far this year.
Against the preparation of a Woods, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker who have all won at least once this year, many have questioned McIlroy’s schedule. A missed cut in Abu Dhabi in his first start in early January was followed by a month off.
A final round 65 in difficult conditions at the Honda Classic instilled some confidence and some much needed momentum, but then his step on the path to Augusta? The Medallist Club’s member-guest event, instead of further tournaments on the PGA Tour. Go figure.
However, McIlroy is notoriously streaky. Even in 2012, which featured multiple victories and an eight-shot triumph at the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, he also had five missed cuts (including one at the UBS Hong Kong Open) . His two worst finishes when making the weekend action came at The Masters and the Open Championship.
McIlroy has showed then that he's more than capable of bouncing back in sublime fashion from patchy periods of form, which makes him impossible to count out of Masters reckoning this month.
