As the 2026 Masters fast approaches, there’s a different feel to the tournament.
That’s because this is the first Masters in a decade where the headline story isn’t, “Will this be the year Rory McIlroy finally wins?”
McIlroy completed the Career Grand Slam by winning The Masters last year, and arrived at Augusta National with the Green Jacket on his shoulders, rather than the weight of expectation.
It wasn’t easy for McIlroy. After a series of errors on Sunday, it took a playoff against Justin Rose for him to secure the win. But after looking back at the tournament, Smylie Kaufman identified the reason that McIlroy was able to win last year.
Smylie Kaufman identifies the key to Rory McIlroy’s Masters victory
After looking back at last year’s Masters, Kaufman said that McIlroy’s win came down to his iron play. He said that he’s a good enough driver and putter to always rely on those two skills, but his inconsistency with his irons has cost him in the past.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, he said, “The one thing that I look back at last year and was surprised at when I looked at the stats was how well Rory McIlroy ironed it. I think when you go back and look at all of those Sunday highlights, they were all iron shots.
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“And I always questioned whether Rory was going to win The Masters because I didn’t know if he was going to be able to iron it consistently enough, especially with his wedges, to be able to win.
“You knew he was going to be able to drive it well enough. His putting has taken leaps and bounds. I consider him to be a top 10 putter in the world. He’s been a very, very good pitcher of the golf ball. Good creativity there.
“But you always wonder like, man, is he does he ever have his iron game quite as good? Because his driver swing, how it transfers to his iron game, sometimes causes him to have either left misses or just not be able to hold fades. But last year, it was good.”
Rory McIlroy’s iron stats at The Masters
Last year, McIlroy’s approach play at Augusta National was nothing short of ridiculous. He gained 2.31 strokes to the field, 0.4 more than the second-place player on approach, Hideki Matsuyama.
He actually lost strokes with his putting, showing just how incredible his iron play was all week to consistently stick it close.
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This was by far the best McIlroy had played with his irons at The Masters in recent years. When he missed the cut in 2023, he lost 1.27 strokes on approach, and he lost 1.48 in 2021. His performances at Augusta have pretty much come down to his ball striking.
That’s a good sign for this year, as his putting has been poor so far in 2026. If McIlroy can lock in with his irons, he can still win the tournament despite his play on the greens.
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