Rory McIlroy ‘feeling pretty good’ ahead of Masters as he eyes first green jacket

Rory McIlroy is a four-time major champion, but his golf resume is incomplete.

The Irishman is still vying for a green jacket, and a victory would be historic.

With a win this weekend at the Masters, McIlroy would become the fifth career Grand Slam winner, joining Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win all four majors.

McIlroy is in a major drought. He hasn’t won one since the 2014 PGA Championship.

His best finish at Augusta was when he came in second last year. 

“I’ve got all the ingredients to make the pie. 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,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy is the second-ranked golfer in the world behind Scottie Scheffler, who is the favorite to defend his title from last year.

McIlroy will be making his 15th start at Augusta. His third Masters started off as everyone dreams. 

He held a four-shot lead entering the final round that year, but he shot an eight-over 80 on Sunday to finish T15. It remains the worst final round score by a leader.

McIlroy recovered nicely, winning the very next major, the 2011 U.S. Open, and he is a likely Hall of Famer.

At 33 years old, he thinks this is the time he will get it done.

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“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.’’

McIlroy’s last shot at Augusta was a hole-out from the green-side bunker on 18 to card a 64. Despite it being a year ago, he’s using that shot as momentum.

“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.”

McIlroy has finished in the top 10 in seven of his last nine Masters, so he’s been knocking on the door a while.