There were a number of occasions where it appeared that Rory McIlroy was potentially going to win The Masters at a canter and have time to embrace and enjoy the magnitude of completing the career grand slam before holing the putt which confirmed his spot in golfing immortality.
Rory McIlroy hit a number of stunning shots during the final round of The Masters. At one stage, the Northern Irishman very briefly had a five shot lead over the chasing pack before he had to settle for a bogey on the 11th hole.
In many ways, it was a performance which summed up McIlroy’s career. Few would have the talent to pull off the shot he hit into the 15th green, while it was remarkable how he managed to put the pressure to one side to set up a birdie on 17.
But the other side of McIlroy’s game was also on show. He is flawed and makes some baffling mistakes, as he showed on the 13th hole when he inexplicably found Rae’s Creek despite having less than 90 yards to the pin.
Smylie Kaufman picks out the four most crucial shots which led Rory McIlroy to Masters glory
And some of the putts McIlroy did not make will have left fans tearing their hair out. But it says everything that the 35-year-old still found a way to get across the line amidst all of the drama.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman picked out the shots which he believed were most pivotal in winning McIlroy the green jacket.
“There’s so many. There’s three, it’s the shot that he hit Friday on 13, it’s the shot that he hit at 15 on Sunday – there’s four – it’s the shot he hit at 17 on Sunday, and it’s the second shot he hit in the playoff,” he said.
“You can make a case for all of them. I seriously mean that, because the shot he did hit out of the pine straw on Friday – I know this is so far away from the end of the tournament – but it was such a meaningful thing for him. It’s like he’s back. He had made two doubles the day before, had shot even par. All of a sudden, he’s back in the golf tournament and he’s in the hunt, he’s only a couple back. That was just as important.
“And then coming off a double on 13, a bogey on 14, to hook a seven iron to six feet – you could make a case that might be one of the most important ones. I would probably rank that first, but the shot at 17 was unreal. The shot on 18, I don’t want to say it’s easy, I’ve never stood on a playoff hole to try and win a Masters and a grand slam, but from an overall difficulty standpoint, that was the easiest shot but the most crucial of course, that’s what won him The Masters.”
The ‘insane’ shots McIlroy hit at Augusta which are not being spoken about
Interestingly, Kaufman would go on to mention two shots from McIlroy which really seemed to go under the radar, including another one of those hit in the playoff.
“The drives that Rory hit on 18, we have not talked enough about. Insane how hard it is to do what he just did there. I want to know how far those drives flew, they probably flew 320,” he said.
McIlroy’s game off the tee appeared to not be at its highest level on Sunday. He left himself in the bunkers on one and two after ever so slightly pushing his ball to the right of the fairway.
So it really did take unbelievable guts to find the short grass on two occasions on the final hole. That tee shot is daunting at the best of times, let alone when you consider everything which could have been going through McIlroy’s head.
It is going to be fascinating to see what silencing all of that talk does for his career from this point on.
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