Somehow, Rory McIlroy Feels Like the Forgotten Man at the Masters

AUGUSTA, GA — The Career Grand Slam. The Champions Dinner. Reflection on last year’s magical run.

Those are the conversations surrounding Rory McIlroy heading into the 90th edition of the Masters. His game—and his chances of repeating—however, have fallen through the cracks.

Maybe it’s because it’s only happened thrice before, but few are giving the Northern Irishman a chance to slip the Green Jacket onto his own shoulders come Sunday evening.

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Or maybe we're simply prisoners of the moment.

The last picture we have of McIlroy is of his struggle at THE PLAYERS, just a few days after withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It’s easy to forget that he was within striking distance going into the weekend at Bay Hill—it’s hard to ever count him out on that golf course. Not to mention, he finished runner-up to Jacob Bridgeman at the Genesis Invitational back in February.

Despite the solid play, the form he's flashed this this season isn’t driving my belief in a repeat. It’s the unburdened nonchalance we saw from him Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference.

He joked. He laughed. He felt like he belonged...maybe for the first time.

“I probably haven't spent a ton of time in the clubhouse since I've been playing here,” he said. “I just always felt—obviously, the Champions Locker Room is for the champions. I've always felt like I knew the week of the tournament that the clubhouse is for participants and their families, but I still felt like I had to earn the right to be there a little more often.”

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I can’t begin to imagine how freed-up he must feel. For a decade, all he knew was disappointment and lost opportunities at Augusta. He faced criticism after each squandered chance—both external and from himself—and was forced to answer the same question time and time again: when are you going to finally close this thing out?

Those queries have finally been silenced. On Thursday, he’ll step on the first tee box with a Green Jacket hanging in the locker he shares with Ben Hogan and Raymond Floyd. He’ll begin the Masters with his place in the tournament’s history solidified.

We’ve never seen that Rory McIlroy at Augusta National before.

So, while many are focused on Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and Xander Schauffele—rightfully so—I’m more interested in what an unburdened McIlroy looks like among the Georgia Pines.