Despite what we may tell ourselves, it is hard not to get a little carried away after Rory McIlroy won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by two shots on his first PGA Tour start of the year.
Rory McIlroy is looking to build on a fairly successful 2024 season, with the Northern Irishman winning four times worldwide, while he also secured his sixth Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour.
It was a real statement of intent to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for the first time in his career, particularly with Scottie Scheffler also in the field.
However, McIlroy’s 2024 season was not only about four victories, but also the agonising finish at the US Open where he made three bogeys in the final four holes to lose by one to Bryson DeChambeau.
Peter Finch makes ominous prediction about Rory McIlroy
And inevitably, thoughts are already starting to turn to the Masters – the one major McIlroy is yet to win. McIlroy has been a triumph at Augusta National away from winning the career grand slam since late 2014. Meanwhile, he has now gone more than a decade without winning a fifth major.
So it is no surprise that the debate has already turned to what McIlroy can do at the majors this year, particularly with the PGA Championship set to be held at Quail Hollow. However, speaking on The Rough Cut Golf Podcast, Peter Finch admitted that he is refusing to get overly excited, because of McIlroy’s track record.
“No, of course he’s not going to win the Masters. He’s not going to win the Masters, and he’s not going to win the PGA, because he should. And it’s just been too often said how he should win the Masters, and how it’s at Quail Hollow, the PGA, how he should win there because he always wins there when there’s a tour event,” he said.
“It’s just inevitable that something’s going to go wrong. And I really hope it doesn’t. I really hope I’m mistaken. I really hope that Rory rises to the fore and wins both those majors. I will organise the parade myself.”
The big problem with hoping McIlroy will win another major
The problem with backing McIlroy is he has gone into the majors in all kinds of form over the years. Meanwhile, the 2024 PGA Championship was played at Valhalla – the site of his most recent major win in 2014. And that did not end his current wait.
If McIlroy does win major number five, it feels inevitable that he will win several more because the noise surrounding him will die down almost immediately. You only have to look at the difference in coverage Jordan Spieth gets at the PGA Championship, when he has also been one major away from a career grand slam since 2017.
The Masters is a different animal, admittedly. But it would be no surprise if McIlroy felt that burden so much more when he is at Augusta, aiming to both win the career grand slam and end that decade-long wait for another major.
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