Rory McIlroy heads into The Masters as the second favourite behind Scottie Scheffler.
Unfortunately for golf fans the world over, Tiger Woods will not be joining Rory McIlroy and co for the 89th edition of The Masters at the magnificent Augusta National this year.
Injury has put paid to the patrons’ hopes of watching Tiger try to win his sixth green jacket. The excitement surrounding that scenario would have been seismic.
However, Rory McIlroy challenging for The Masters trophy down the stretch on Sunday would be an incredible storyline in itself.
Jack Nicklaus once suggested that Rory McIlroy needs to putt well to win The Masters, and the signs regarding that are looking very good right now.
He is inside the top 13 of all the key putting statistical categories on the PGA Tour this season.
Now is the time for him to go out there and prove that he has what it takes to win.
What Tiger Woods did during The Masters in 2019 really impressed Rory McIlroy
Rory has always looked up to Tiger.
The 49-year-old golfing superstar is one of the greatest to ever play the game, and he’s second on the list of all-time major wins.
There was nobody else like Tiger regarding the way that he prepared for the four Major Championships.
His former caddy Steve Williams shared how Tiger Woods like to bet with his fellow players during practice rounds in the lead-up to majors.
Tiger clearly liked being in ‘tournament mode’ at all times, and that paid dividends for him in 2019 when he won his 15th Major Championship and his fifth green jacket at Augusta National.
Rory McIlroy lifted the lid on something Tiger did that year that really impressed him, when speaking on the WHOOP podcast:
“Everyone says that the Masters does not start until the back nine on Sunday because there are so many things that can happen. When Tiger won there in 2019, of the last three or four groups, it was like he was the only one to hit it on that green. Everyone missed it or hit it in the water.
“Tiger was the one who played smart, out to the left. When it is like that, I think there is so much great stuff which comes with experience in golf. Tiger has played that hole hundreds of times and he knows today with this pin position with this wind, if I put it in the middle of the green and two putt from 40 feet I will not lose anything to the field. He was disciplined enough to do it and that was the really impressive thing.“
Tiger Woods succeeded when everyone else failed
The 12th hole at Augusta National is an incredibly difficult challenge – even for the best players in the world.
The green is shielded by the imposing loblolly pines, and when the ball gets above them, it can be hit by swirling gusts of wind.
On Masters Sunday in 2019, Woods played his tee-shot 40 feet left of the pin – a perfectly executed strike that ended up exactly where he was aiming.
Meanwhile, his competitors faltered.
Tony Finau, Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose all found the water.
Tiger Woods went on to win his fifth green jacket that week, and Rory McIlroy would do well to take inspiration from his friend in his quest for his first.
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