{"id":517685,"date":"2026-04-07T13:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517685\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:44:11","slug":"rory-mcilroy-is-back-at-augusta-but-does-he-have-the-right-mindset-to-win-the-masters-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517685\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy is back at Augusta \u2013 but does he have the right mindset to win The Masters again?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It has been a busy week for Rory McIlroy<\/a>. He was in place at the annual Drive, Chip and Putt National Championship over the weekend to hand out prizes to young winners. He conducted some early Masters media duties. He has been preparing to host Tuesday night\u2019s champions\u2019 dinner,<\/a> featuring elk sliders and yellowfin tuna carpaccio inspired by his favourite New York restaurant, where the admission ticket is a Green Jacket.<\/p>\n

McIlroy returns to Augusta National as a hero, the man who conquered the grand-slam mountain<\/a>, finally admitted into that exclusive club of great champions with Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Danny Willett. But he also returns with duties to undertake. When you come back the following year \u2013 and especially when you\u2019re McIlroy \u2013 you are not so much a golfer as an ambassador for the uniquely cultish world of The Masters<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Which perhaps goes some way to explaining why the Green Jacket is so hard to win again the next year. Three players have managed it: Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Woods (2001-02). But they are the exceptions over the tournament\u2019s 92-year lifetime. There is a pomp and ceremony that goes with being The Masters champion that no other player in the field has to deal with.<\/p>\n

Fold in the recent back injury that has clearly been bothering McIlroy on the course, and his lack of form so far this season, and becoming the fourth man to win back-to-back Masters begins to look like a tall order.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s off, to be honest,\u201d says Paul McGinley, Europe\u2019s winning Ryder Cup captain in 2014, when asked about the state of McIlroy\u2019s game. \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s primed the way he was this time last year, coming off wins at The Players and Pebble Beach. Obviously, the injury has derailed him a little bit. I think it\u2019s going to be very difficult, and it always is, to defend around Augusta. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think Rory\u2019s concentration levels will be tested because of the activities that go on as the defending champion. Not just the dinner, but I think he\u2019s going to be around wearing his Green Jacket around the property for a few days, earlier than he would normally do. There\u2019s a lot of stuff that goes on as defending champion, and it\u2019s a good problem to have, and I\u2019m sure he\u2019s delighted with it. But I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to drive him into a top-level performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"McIlroyMcIlroy receives the Green Jacket from Scottie Scheffler (AP)\"McIlroyMcIlroy lifts the trophy after finally winning The Masters (AP)<\/p>\n

It would be understandable if McIlroy isn\u2019t as motivated as he was 12 months ago. There is no decade-long major drought to soothe. There is no missing piece to his career puzzle. McIlroy has completed golf and the remaining task \u2013 to climb the list of major title winners \u2013 doesn\u2019t bring out the same burning desire. He doesn\u2019t need to stick it to Bryson DeChambeau over the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s at his best when he\u2019s p****d off,\u201d says McGinley. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that playing with Bryson in the last round last year helped him more than hurt him. And the reason it helped him was Bryson belittled him six months previously, when they did that made-for-TV event out in the desert somewhere [The Showdown] and he made a smart comment about Rory messing up at the US Open in order for Bryson to win. So Bryson really did him a favour, because he forced him into focus. He p****d him off, and got him in the mindset he needs to get in. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I think the same with the Ryder Cup. His level of intensity at the Ryder Cup was phenomenal. If he could bring that intensity to every tournament he played, well, yeah, he would be Tiger Woods. But that\u2019s not Rory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, McIlroy has appeared free and easy back at Augusta<\/a>, weightless, talking about his new documentary as he floats around the grounds. He has never been uncomfortable among the stiff traditions of The Masters, but he is perhaps the most relaxed he has ever been in these surroundings, certainly since his Sunday derailment in 2011.<\/p>\n

\"McIlroyMcIlroy plays a practice shot from the eighth tee ahead of the 2026 Masters (Getty)<\/p>\n

That mentality can have its advantages, of course. \u201cAugusta doesn\u2019t let you fake it,\u201d Phil Mickelson once said. You cannot pretend to be comfortable in this environment. The grass will be firm and fast this week. There will be no hiding place for a wayward approach or a heavy touch around the greens.<\/p>\n

But McGinley is convinced this will be one of McIlroy\u2019s hardest challenges, to go back to back, to repeat the feat of Nicklaus, Faldo and Woods. He who wears the Green Jacket carries the greatest burden, even if they might not feel it. For a player of such experience and accomplishment, this is a new experience in golf. Such are the demands of being last year\u2019s winner, McIlroy won\u2019t assume the role of defending champion until he stands on the first tee on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a sense of pride, there\u2019s a sense of happiness about you, there\u2019s a sense of excitement,\u201d adds McGinley. \u201cYou\u2019re hosting this amazing dinner. You\u2019re wearing a Green Jacket around the property. Everybody\u2019s shaking your hand and is happy to see you. People want a bit of your time, and it lends itself to being in a great place as a human being. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019d make a very strong case that that\u2019s the opposite mindset you need in order to be a winner for the tournament that week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-517685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}