Masters fever just got louder. The prospect of Augusta National morphing into Rory Land in mid-April has intensified. Rory McIlroy’s second Players Championship victory suggests that maybe, just maybe, he has timed his Masters run perfectly this time. Never before has he landed at the first major of the year with two victories already banked.
McIlroy laid down a marker on the course here on Monday before immediately making a similar statement off it. “I feel like I’m a better player now than I ever have been,” he said.
This was the playoff McIlroy dare not lose. It was one he never looked like losing. By the time JJ Spaun found water on the 17th – the second of three aggregate extra holes – this contest was over. And yet, McIlroy endured a sleepless night as he contemplated his joust with an opponent who had entered the Players Championhip ranked 57th in the world.
“Standing over that tee shot on 16 this morning is the most nervous I’ve been in a long time,” McIlroy said. “So feeling like that and being able to hit the shots that I needed, while your stomach is sort of not feeling great and your legs are a little shaky and your heart rate is racing … To have to go through that, it’s nice to have that in recent memory for some of the tournaments coming up.”
Georgia is already on McIlroy’s mind. Here, he became the first European to win multiple Players Championship titles.
From that 16th tee, he battered a drive almost 340 yards down the fairway. It was his flighted nine-iron into the 17th that was the most impressive shot of the day, though. Technical excellence combined with maturity. Spaun had been deceived; he had noticed what club McIlroy chose and looked on in disbelief as his own ball overshot the green before landing in alligator-infested waters. McIlroy was three clear with one hole to play; the fat lady had cleared her throat.
So why the earlier anxiety? “Back in 2019 [when he won his first Players] I maybe didn’t appreciate how big this tournament was and how much it meant,” McIlroy said.
“Every time we come back to this tournament, it gets bigger and better each and every year, from the course to the facilities for the players, to the facilities for the fans. I don’t want to put any sort of label on it but it is one of the biggest championships in the world. That was part of the reason.
“I didn’t get it done last night and I really wanted to. And as well I’m going out there and I’m expected to win. That brings pressure in some way. I felt like I handled those nerves really well.
“People say pressure is a privilege and it really is. You want to feel like that on the course. That’s why I spend the time that I do practising and trying to master my craft, that you get yourself in those positions to see what you’re made of.”
Scottie Scheffler is scratching around for form. Xander Schauffele is battling back from injury. The competitive status of Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau is unclear as they play on the LIV circuit. Ludvig Åberg, many people’s Masters tip, missed the cut here.
Whisper it, but this may be Mcllroy’s best chance to complete the career grand slam and march among true golfing greats. He will stick with pre-Players plan of adding one more event – probably the Houston Open – before Augusta.
Spaun is due huge credit for forcing extra holes in the first place. He has one PGA Tour title to his name and a year ago was trying to halt a miserable run of missed cuts. There is a Masters berth for Spaun as Sawgrass consolation.
“Every great athlete talks about being in the moment, having the opportunity to win and wanting the ball, to shoot the final shot, the final three or have the last pitch to win the World Series,” Spaun said. “Those guys want the ball. Even though I didn’t win, I want the ball.”
This was, however, indisputably McIlroy’s day. He completed media duties alongside a flower, given to him by his daughter, Poppy, as recognition of a job well done. “I was always excited to sit down and watch this tournament as a kid,” he said.
“To think I’ve won this now a couple of times and I’ve been coming here since 2009 … 10-year-old Rory would think this was really, really cool.”
It is possible we ain’t seen nothing yet. Roll on Magnolia Lane.
