McIlroy not haunted by last year’s Masters collapse

The 22-year-old went from four ahead to ten behind with a nightmare closing 80 last April, but gave his first answer to how much it affected him by winning the US Open by eight shots only two months later.

“To be honest it was such a blur,” said McIlroy as the countdown continued to the opening major of the season at Augusta National. “Everything went so quickly.”

Even with his first major title in the bag, however, his return to the scene of the crime was bound to be one of the main talking points this week.

McIlroy practised on the course last week and his mind inevitably went back 11 months at the tenth, where his final-round drive had rebounded off a tree in between two of the lodges left of the fairway.

“I can’t believe how close the cabins are – they are only 50 yards off the tee,” he observed, drawing laughter from a packed room of journalists. “Look, it’s great to be able to laugh about it now. I just had a quick glance on the way past walking down the middle of the fairway last week - and hopefully I’ll do the same thing this week.

“Obviously the first time I played the back nine last week there are memories that come back and memories that you probably don’t want. It’s fine. I got that all out of the way, I’m looking forward to trying to put myself in contention to try and win this thing.

“I learned a lot. I think one of the things I learnt was that as a person and as a golfer, I wasn’t ready to win the Masters.”

Now he thinks he is, although the task has become harder with Tiger Woods back to winning ways two weeks ago. “I think it’s great for the tournament and great for the game of golf that Tiger is back playing well,” he added.

“He creates excitement that no one else in the game can. A lot of people want to see him make history and it looks like he’s back on track to maybe going and doing that.”

Many are hoping to see the emergence of a Rory-Tiger rivalry but at the moment it is more of a mutual appreciation society. Last night Woods said that McIlroy has the talent to emulate himself and dominate the game for a long period.

“The way he plays, and I think the way he handles himself out there on the golf course, how competitive he is, he’s very feisty. It’s what you have to be out here,” Woods said. “He has all of the makings of being a great champion for a long period of time.

“We have seen obviously what he did last year at the Masters and how he came back at the Open. He led, what, seven out of eight rounds in major championships? Which is pretty impressive,” added the former world No 1.

“So he just needs to get more experienced. That’s just from playing. He’s put himself there. Seems like every single tournament he plays in, he’s in the top 10 and that’s great to see.”

Woods is four short of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major wins, but has been on 14 since the 2008 US Open and won the last of his four Masters green jackets in 2005.

“I’m just looking forward to hopefully giving myself a chance and maybe coming up against maybe the best player ever - definitely the best player of the last 20 years,” McIlroy continued.

“People have very short memories. He won the 2008 US Open on one leg and he can do a lot of things that other people can’t. But mentally now I feel if I get myself in a position again I’ll be able to approach it a lot better.

“The way I approached it [last year] was out of character for me. I was trying to be too focused, too perfect. From watching the tape back, I was always looking at the ground.

“I was very insular – sort of like I didn’t want the outside world to get in instead of embracing the situation and saying ‘I’ve got a four-shot lead at the Masters, let’s enjoy this’. I definitely feel like I’ve come back here the same person. but just with a different attitude.”

Of all the attempts to comfort him after what happened a year ago, McIlroy believes the most important was the telephone call made by Greg Norman a few days later. “I was in Malaysia in my hotel room and he talked to me about it. I think it was great coming from him because he had sort of been in the same position in 1996, but I think ‘86 as well.”

McIlroy raised another laugh when he explained he was not sure of the year for the simple fact that he was not born at the time.

He was right with 1986, though. It was the year Norman’s late slip allowed Nicklaus to win his last major at the age of 46.

“He said a couple things to me that I found very useful and sort of put into practice – create this little bubble around yourself and just try and get into that and sort of don’t let any of the outside interference come into that. That was big for me.

“I think he knew more than anyone else how I was feeling at that point.”