It really does feel as if Thursday 10th April 2025 could prove to be one of the most significant days in the career of Rory McIlroy, as the Northern Irishman prepares for his opening round of this year’s Masters.
Perhaps it is the same feeling every year and everyone just forgets how intense it gets, but there really does appear to be something different about Rory McIlroy this year heading into The Masters – the only major the 35-year-old is yet to win.
McIlroy went into 2025 having never won twice stateside before April before in his career. But not only has he won on two occasions already, those victories came at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship.
Meanwhile, McIlroy believes that he has shots in his arsenal which were missing on his previous trip to Augusta National. And with Scottie Scheffler yet to rediscover his best form, there appears to be a golden opportunity at the first major of the year.
Rex Hoggard already concerned about his Rory McIlroy prediction ahead of The Masters
But of course, no-one has more pressure on them at The Masters than McIlroy. Not only is he seeking major number five and his first Masters win, but it is also only a green jacket which will enable him to complete the career grand slam.
While McIlroy has rarely contended at The Masters – for a player of his ability – the agony of some of his recent major results will have left a lot of scars.
And with that, speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard insisted that he is already starting to second guess his belief that McIlroy would get the job done this time around.
“No big shock, I wrote Rory yesterday – I always do – the love affair, or unrequited love affair when it comes to this golf course and Rory McIlroy, and I kind of got caught in midair with the ball and didn’t know where to pass it this afternoon when you and I were on this afternoon with Steve Sands. We were supposed to pick our favourites on golfchannel.com, I picked Rory McIlroy to win. I’m going to stick with that pick,” he said.
“As you can tell by the tone in my voice – someone told me, I was at a function last night, and someone said ‘I saw you picked Rory, but it had to be the most hollow pick I’ve heard in my entire life’, and I did the same thing today where every statistical analysis I would lay out would point to: yeah, Rory’s probably the guy to get it done this week. If you’re coming in and you’re being objective about this, then absolutely, he would be the guy.
“If you look at this course is number one on tour in GIR bias – that would lean towards Rory McIlroy, certainly what he’s been able to do off the tee, certainly what he’s been able to do with his putter the last few weeks. But then, you add the history to it, the emotion to it, the unrequited love, the heartbreak, whatever it is you want to talk about. I’m going to stick with Rory now because I have to; I’ve gone on record numerous times, but I don’t feel great about it.”
What Rory McIlroy cannot afford to do on Thursday at Augusta
Fans will be starting to imagine what that moment could be like; McIlroy walking up the 18th hole on Sunday knowing that only a nearly impossible collapse would deny him victory.
There will be plenty of tears, both at Augusta National and in a lot of homes. And the roar McIlroy will let out when the final putt drops will have potentially 14 years of pain behind it.
But it is absolutely vital that he gives himself the platform to build from. McIlroy has opened with a round in the 60s on just two occasions in his Masters career.
A 70 would not be a disaster by any means. But given how often the eventual winner is on the first page of the leaderboard after day one at Augusta, it feels imperative that McIlroy makes that early statement.
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