Rory McIlroy’s big-picture mentality could end in a Masters high-five

Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy? In his wildest dreams as a young golfer, even when holing putts he visualised as being for the Masters, McIlroy could not have predicted multiple opportunities to join such illustrious company before the age of 30. That quintet are the only players to win all four majors.

Amid preparation for his fifth tilt at the one so many presumed would come easiest to him, McIlroy’s remonstrations that joining the pantheon is the farthest thing from his mind have been exemplary. If, at 29, he is to don the Green Jacket it will be the product of a mentality that now sees the big picture. McIlroy seems no longer weighed down by expectation.

The prevailing sense is that people want McIlroy, who has endured his share of tortuous moments in this Toy Town of golf, to triumph. A decade since his first professional win, he is the clear favourite. It forms part of the sport’s need, as it battles for relevance and grasps for a modern identity, to benefit from a current player who has created history.

As Augusta’s azaleas have come into bloom so has McIlroy’s game; some top‑five finishes paled into insignificance when he won the Players Championship last month. The style of victory – tenacious – was Nicklaus-esque.