Rory bounced towards the next tee seemingly unbothered, as if certain he would erase such a big mistake with inevitable brilliance. And sure enough, McIlroy quickly whipped off three birdies in a row. He would shoot a two-under 70 to finish an impressive T-3, five strokes behind Y.E. Yang, up to then his best finish in a major.<\/p>\n
By the time he\u2019d won the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA by identical eight shot margins, it seemed a forgone conclusion that golf would soon be entering the Rory Era. But even though he won two more majors in 2014, that didn\u2019t come to pass. And what the subsequent misfortunes over the next decade, like failures to close out the 2022 Open or the 2024 US Open, would not let me forget was the casualness of that double-bogey at Hazeltine.<\/p>\n
McIlroy simply had not become a complete enough golfer. He wasn\u2019t Woods, he wasn\u2019t Nicklaus, and he wasn\u2019t Scheffler. He simply made too many mistakes, and without the sophistication in the game\u2019s more subtle arts to survive them when the margins for error were slimmest.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Where is Australia\u2019s next green jacket coming from?<\/a><\/p>\n Part of why this state of affairs was frustrating is that McIlroy is a student of the game. In conversation and interviews, he has always been precocious, astute, wise. He had studied the greats, especially Woods, sought Nicklaus\u2019 counsel. In early 2024, he said, \u201cI\u2019d love to be a little more like Scottie Scheffler\u2026 just limit the mistakes.\u201d Indeed, after that round at Hazeltine in 2009 he had told me, \u201cIt\u2019s just about making the most of playing badly,\u201d a variation on Jack\u2019s emphasis on the importance of being able to \u201cplay badly well\u201d.<\/p>\n But it was the seductive ease that McIlroy\u2019s gift for playing unencumbered golf defied following that wisdom. The freewheeling style from those early runaway major victories likely kept him from fully committing to the parts of the game that didn\u2019t seem important in full flight: controlled wedge play, versatile short game, reliable short putting \u2013 the mistake minimisers.<\/p>\n Instead, McIlroy had to learn the hard way that without more proficiency, would-be victories turned into regretful runner-ups. The pain from his 2022 loss at St Andrews in particular began an increased dedication to the little things that in major championships invariably make a huge difference.<\/p>\n It was a process. Missed short putts might have sunk him at Pinehurst in 2024, but other improvements were noted. The mistakes could still be outsized, as when, while holding the lead in the 2025 Masters, he pitched his short third shot into the creek on the par-5 13th and made a double. After his birdie on the 15th helped calm that error, he came to the 72nd needing a par to win his first major in 11 years and complete the career Grand Slam, yet he pushed a straightforward pitching wedge into a bunker and made bogey.<\/p>\n At that moment, it might have seemed McIlroy was a hopeless case. But it turned out that the McIlroy had also strengthened his competitive psyche, because rather than crumble, he came through in sudden death with a winning birdie.<\/p>\n This year a similar pattern occurred with an even more robust crisis response. McIlroy came into Sunday having lost the six-stroke lead that he\u2019d begun the third round with, and he looked all the more shaky when on the par-3 fourth, he three-putted from five feet for a double-bogey to fall two behind Cameron Young.<\/p>\n But McIlroy retained his poise and confidence, and in the bounce-back that ensued, it was key short game shots saved him, like the fraught short chip from the right side of the 17th green that he calmly finessed to save a vital par. Not to ignore the beautifully flighted and bold three-quarter 9-iron on the par-3 12th<\/a> that was the fruit of the principles he has been applying to his vastly improved wedge game.<\/p>\n In truth, McIlroy didn\u2019t hit the ball particularly well at this Masters. Probably not nearly as well as he struck it at Congressional in 2011. But he gave himself an A+ for his wedges, short game and putting, complete flip of the formula that gave him so much early success, but which proved unsustainable.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why he\u2019s now, at 36, a better and more complete player. Not in the way that will win majors by eight strokes. In the way that will win them more often.<\/p>\n![\"Masters](\"https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2026\/4\/masters-2026-rory-mcilroy-saturday-through-trees.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix\/1775953710669.jpeg\")
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