Rory’s Rubicon
When was the last time you thought about your own greatest personal and most profound physical achievement? It probably presents itself in your mind periodically and it is rightfully a tremendous source of pride. It may also feel as if it took place many more years ago than it actually did. In men’s professional golf the resumes of the greatest players are a testament to the achievement and can also be amplified by the longevity of the individual. Jack Nicklaus won his first major in 1962 and famously won his last in 1986. Tiger Woods expanded the breadth of his major championship career by winning the 2019 Masters, which lengthened the time between his first and his last by 11 years. Eleven years is equivalent to two lifetimes in elite professional golf as “prime” windows open and close coldly and constantly on players. Which brings us to the supreme challenge that Rory McIlroy faces four weeks every year.
In 2014 South Carolina beat Georgia in football, the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA title, Germany blitzed Brazil in a world cup semifinal and went on to win the entire thing, and UConn won the national championship in basketball. The number of things that have happened to each school or organization since those achievements were realized makes it feel like they happened decades ago. In August of 2014 Rory McIlroy was asserting himself as the best player in the what would eventually be the post Tiger Woods era. Rory had held off Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler a month earlier to win his first Open Championship. The Open was considered to be the one that would be most elusive for McIlroy to claim. He sauntered around Valhalla at the PGA as the clear best player in the world and proceeded to essentially play through Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson to win his second PGA Championship and his fourth major in a three-year window. Rory was unencumbered with a wife or a family at the time and appeared on a fast track to rarified major championship achievement. Now, almost nine full years removed from his bullish play in Kentucky his major championship haul remains four and his quest for the career grand slam will head to the year 2024 and his tenth attempt at a Masters tournament title and golf’s holy grail.
Rory’s performance at the Masters was deflating. He had solved some issues after the missed cut at the Players with a deep run at the Match Play championship and every indication was that a Sunday in the throes of the second nine was more than a likelihood. His pre-Masters press conference was introspective and pragmatic. While taking on the role of front man for all the changes occurring on the PGA Tour, McIlroy has remained an engaging participant with the media. He’s complimentary of the work of many people in the industry who cover the game and sat for a lengthy and entertaining conversation with the No Laying Up team less than two weeks out from the Masters. He is an exceedingly curious person with redeemable traits that fly in the face of many egocentric and narcissistic superstars of global sport. Maybe he would be better served to shut it all down or resort to curt and less thoughtful answers as to why this has gone on so long but it’s simply not his nature. For a sporting icon, not to mention an only child, McIlroy possesses one of life’s most redeemable qualities, he’s unselfish. McIlroy is also very close with several members at Augusta National which makes his fondness for the club genuine beyond just the golf course itself. It is not unreasonable to consider that Rory could very well become a regular member at the club like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus did before him. However, he will never accept the invitation if he has not won a green jacket for his play in their annual tournament. Rory’s decision to work with Dr. Bob Rotella, starting a few years ago, is an indicator that “headspace” is a challenge for McIlroy and the weight of crossing the career grand slam line is fatiguing. The prolonging of the achievement is not making it easier and he’s now swimming in uncharted waters as it relates to the time required to accomplish the feat and its being compounded by his inability to win any major title in almost nine full years.
The list of players who won 5 major titles in their careers is royalty from generations long, long ago to more modern legends. J.H. Taylor, James Braid, Peter Thomson, Byron Nelson and Seve Ballesteros all won five majors and most of them only had a gap between numbers four and five of 2 to 3 years. Only Peter Thomson had a prolonged drought before he won his fifth Open Championship and his fifth overall major in 1965 – a gap of seven years which likely felt longer for the legendary Australian. Then consider the timeline of the five men who have achieved golfing immortality in achieving the career grand slam. Gene Sarazen won the third leg at the 1932 Open Championship and completed the slam less than three years later by winning what was then The Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Rightfully, Sarazen retroactively won the grand slam but the players, the media, the fans and the co-founder of Augusta National, Bobby Jones, had no idea what the event was going to become. The club had unsuccessfully attempted to convince the USGA to conduct the US Open at Augusta National and the genesis of what would become the Masters had as much to do with drumming up interest in potential members to the new club as it was to stage one of the biggest events in golf. No player has gone to Augusta National with anywhere near the pressure that McIlroy has, with the exception of Tiger Woods when he was trying to complete the Tiger Slam in 2001. He accomplished the feat but assessing its place historically was different without simply admitting how ludicrous it was that he owned all four trophies simultaneously. Ben Hogan won the 1951 Masters and completed the slam just over two years later at his lone appearance and win of the Open Championship at Carnoustie in 1953. Gary Player won the third leg at the PGA in 1962 and completed the slam in 1965 at the U.S. Open. Jack Nicklaus was tidy in securing the third leg in 1963 at the PGA and put a bow on his first slam in 1966 at the Open Championship at Muirfield. Finally, Tiger made quick work of the slam from the U.S. Open in June of 2000 at Pebble Beach to his own coronation at the Old Course in a blowout and his first Open Championship a month later. Whatever sense of unfinished business they each felt to win the final leg they didn’t allow it to persist beyond even a third year. Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson were 31 and 32 when they secured the third leg of the slam and neither man ever closed the book. Lee Trevino was 34 with only the Masters needed for entry into the fraternity but his feelings for the club and the style required never made the pursuit seem practical. Finally, Phil Mickelson was 43 when he won the Open Championship and his heartbreak at the U.S. Open was already legendary including just a month before winning at Muirfield when he was denied his national championship at Merion. Rory finds himself now looking toward his tenth attempt at Augusta National but the current in his Rubicon is turning into a riptide because of his inability to close any major anywhere. Cam Smith’s performance to deny Rory his second Open Championship at the Old Course allowed everyone to say Smith won it, but Rory had his chances, actually he had many chances, and he simply couldn’t make any crucial putts in the final round. His overall play didn’t suggest that he succumbed to the pressure, but he was the man to beat, and someone beat him. His overall performance in every major, not just the Masters, over the last nine years has been very good, with many chances to win indicated by his result in all four majors in 2022. However, the close calls may only make the divide seem wider and not closer as the years continue to pass on by. When and if Rory wins a major, he will now share it with his wife Erica and their adorable daughter Poppy, which will be different from 2014. Who knows if the family will be larger by the time he crosses the major line again, but one thing that I believe is likely true is that the pursuit of the career grand slam cannot be running concurrently with his quest for any major championship title. If Rory is ever going to don a green jacket, I believe he will need to have the memories of another major victory much clearer and fresher in his mind.