When Rory McIlroy was on the ascent in the game of golf, few would have ever imagined that he would close in on his 36th birthday without ever winning The Masters.
Rory McIlroy looked destined for greatness from the very early stages of his career. He was tied for third as an amateur after the first round of his first Open Championship in 2007, while he just seemed to get better and better over the next handful of years.
His Masters debut came in 2009. In fact, it was his first major appearance since The Open nearly two years earlier. Nevertheless, the Northern Irishman still managed to finish just inside the top 20 on his Augusta National bow.
And perhaps Tom Watson can take some credit for that.
The advice Tom Watson gave Rory McIlroy before his Masters debut
Watson won The Masters on two occasions during his career. And of course, he came agonisingly close to winning The Open for a sixth time later on in 2009 in one of the all-time incredible performances the most famous championship in the sport has seen.
It turns out that the pair played together in the days leading up to The Masters that year. And speaking to WHOOP, McIlroy shared the advice Watson gave him about tackling perhaps the most iconic hole on the hallowed grounds.
“I played a practice round in 2009, so my first Masters, with Tom Watson. Tom is one of the greatest players to ever live. What he told me was wherever the wind is supposed to be on the 12th tee, as soon as you feel it there, hit it. That was his [thing]. You want to feel the wind where it’s supposed to be and once it’s there, then you go,” he said.
“But I have been on the 12th tee before and the flag on the 11th green is blowing into the wind and the flag on the 12th green is blowing straight down wind and you’re like what am I supposed to do? You have water short and have bunkers long which are terrible misses and it’s a very shallow green. It’s one of the coolest and best par threes in the world but it can get really tricky.”
When Tom Watson managed to outperform Rory McIlroy at The Masters
As McIlroy notes, Watson is one of the best players to have ever walked the fairways. He won eight major titles, and came unbelievably close to winning a ninth at Turnberry 16 years ago.
He was playing at an incredibly high level well into the twilight of his career. And there was a year where actually outperformed McIlroy at The Masters.
McIlroy got an idea of how tough Augusta can be on only his second appearance as he missed the cut for the first time, back in 2010.
Watson meanwhile, was just one shot off the lead after posting a 67 in the opening round. Unfortunately, he could not break par for the rest of the week, but he still managed to finish in 18th place.
It would be the only time he would make the cut at the opening major of the year between 2003 and his final appearance in 2016.
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