AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy speaks like he’s a believer.
“I’ve got all the ingredients to make the pie,’’ the 33-year-old from Northern Ireland who’s ranked No. 2 in the world said Tuesday in advance of his 15th Masters. “It’s just putting all those ingredients in and setting the oven to the right temperature and letting it all sort of come to fruition.’’
Augusta National sets up perfectly for McIlroy’s game. Even as it’s gotten longer, like with the par-5 13th hole lengthened by some 35 yards this year, it further plays into the hands of McIlroy because of his length off the tee. His driver is his greatest weapon.
The place is tailor-made for McIlroy to have a green jacket slipped over his shoulders on Sunday evening inside Butler Cabin.
Rory knows it. Everyone knows it.
Tiger Woods, who’s become close to McIlroy, is a believer. Woods, a five-time Masters winner, said “it’s just a matter of time’’ before McIlroy wins a Masters.
“Rory has the talent,’’ Woods said Tuesday. “He has the game. He has all the tools to win here. It’s just a matter of time. A lot of things have to happen to win at this golf course. A lot of things have to go right.
“I think Rory has shown over the years he’s learned how to play this golf course, and you just have to understand how to play it. He’s been there. Last year he made a great run, put himself there. But I think that it’s just a matter of time — whether it’s this year or next or whenever it comes, he will get it done — and he will have a career Grand Slam.’’
Here’s the thing: There’s scar tissue at Augusta for McIlroy to navigate as well as a lot of external pressure that comes with how elite he is and the drought he’s in when it comes to major championships.
There was his 2011 back-nine Masters meltdown during which a four-shot final-round lead ended in a tie for 15th after he shot 80. There, too, is the fact that he’s been stuck on four major championships since 2014. Oh yes, and the Masters is the only remaining major championship he hasn’t won to complete the rare and coveted career Grand Slam.
So, yes, the course sets up perfectly for his game. But can he navigate his way through all the other stuff?
“They said the same thing about Ernie Els [and] Greg Norman,’’ McIlroy said of the course suiting their respective games. “There’s been players before that that has been said this course is tailor-made for those players and they haven’t [gone] on to win a green jacket. That’s always in my mind, too.
“Just because a place is deemed perfectly set up for your game, it doesn’t automatically mean that you’re going to win it one day. There’s more to it than that.’’
As always, there are numerous captivating storylines to this Masters. Perhaps the first is whether one of the 18 players from LIV Golf wins the Masters in this polarizing time when battle lines have been drawn.
Right up there with that delicious drama is the prospect of McIlroy breaking through to finally win a Masters.
“I’ve won four of them,’’ McIlroy said of his major championships. “I’ve been knocking on the door for that fifth one for a while. I feel like I am as good, if not better a player, as I was the last time I won a major championship. So, I’m feeling pretty good about it.’’
The last time McIlroy played the Masters, he was holing out for eagle on the 72nd hole to cap off a final-round 64 and a runner-up finish, the best of his career at Augusta. He spoke Tuesday about that moment being a “breakthrough’’ for him, and how it “shed’’ some of the “scar tissue.’’
“The last time this tournament was played, I walked away from the course and the tournament pretty happy with myself,’’ McIlroy said. “I proved to myself that I could do it. As much as I didn’t really get into contention [to win], there was a part of me on that back nine last year that felt that I had a chance. And to play the way I did … and to have those feelings, in my mind anyway, I felt like it was a breakthrough.’’
With all due respect to McIlroy, who’s as honest an interview as there is in the sport, he cannot completely consider anything a breakthrough at the Masters until he’s in that Butler Cabin after the final putt has dropped being fitted for his own green jacket.