As someone who came into The Masters with high hopes for Rory McIlroy finally completing the career Grand Slam this week, the reality has been somewhat underwhelming.
After looking through his performance stats at Augusta National this week, I am bemused by his inconsistency and I can't help but feel Rory will look back on this as a missed opportunity.
Certain aspects over McIlroy's game have been sublime in the first three rounds, while others have been quite frankly abysmal by his standards, and it's that conflict that is holding him back.
Rory McIlroy's Performance At The Masters – The Stats
It's widely accepted that two of the most important indicators of success at The Masters are driving distance and a strong putting performance.
Rory McIlroy is jumping through those hoops this week. After three rounds, McIlroy ranks 3rd in the field for putting average and 1st for driving distance, outdriving big-hitter, Bryson DeChambeau. Those are the sorts of numbers we would expect to see from someone contending on Sunday, and barring a monumental effort it appears that isn't going to happen.
So, what went wrong for McIlroy?
The contrast starts to show when you look at his driving accuracy. McIlroy may be pumping his tee shots an average of 318 yards on average, but he has been all over the golf course.
With just 61 percent of fairways hit, McIlroy ranks 57th out of the 60 players who made the cut. That has been the story for him in the last twelve months, ranking 102nd out of the top 150 players for the same measure.
That could be one of the reasons McIlroy has opted to seek the help of Butch Harmon, as an improved accuracy off-the-tee would certainly help his chances of a first Green Jacket in the future.
Talking generally about the work he is doing with McIlroy, Harmon told Sky Sports Golf:
“He (Rory) tends to get his right arm behind him and with his speed coming down that meant that the club was behind him and he was always trying to catch up."
But it's not just his driving accuracy that may have scuppered his prospects this week, as this second damning stat exemplifies.
Out of the 60 players who made the cut, Rory McIlroy ranks 55th for greens in regulation. In the first three rounds, he hit just 50 percent of greens and as a result consistently put himself in a position where he needed to scramble for par.
As we know, Augusta National is not a golf course where you can be consistently behind the 8-ball and that is perhaps why McIlroy languishes nine birdies behind the tournament birdie-leader, Cameron Young, this week.
McIlroy hasn't ranked inside the top-15 for birdie total in any of the three rounds so far, and didn't complete a single one in his second round 77. His struggles this week are also linked to sub-optimal performance in another important stat for success at The Masters – Par 5 scoring.
He currently ranks outside the top-40 for par-5 birdie or better, having made just three in the first 54 holes. It's a similar story for the par-4s, making three birdies all week so far, with the par-3s yielding a single birdie for the Northern Irishman.
I am in no doubt that Rory will be disappointed with the outcome this week when all is said and done, despite what I expect will be a strong final round in true McIlroy-style.
With his huge distance off the tee and reliability with the putter, McIlroy has the game to win The Masters and complete the career grand slam. If he had improved his driving accuracy and greens in regulation through the first 54 holes, to even an average standard in relation to his undeniable skill and quality, I think we would be waiting with bated breath as McIlroy contended for the Green Jacket.
There's always next year, I suppose.
