Former US Open champion Curtis Strange has warned Rory McIlroy he faces more rivals than ever as he bids to win the Masters and complete the career grand slam.
McIlroy is joint favourite for the year’s first major championship at Augusta National with defending champion Scottie Scheffler and world number three Jon Rahm.
The Northern Irishman finished runner-up to Scheffler 12 months ago thanks to a stunning final round of 64 which included an eagle and six birdies, the last coming from a greenside bunker on the 18th.
What a way to finish. McIlroy holes out on No. 18 to put pressure on the leader. #themasters pic.twitter.com/L5fWWbR9cj — The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2022 McIlroy, 33, has also been in good form this season, winning in Dubai, finishing runner-up in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and reaching the semi-finals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play before beating Scheffler in the third/fourth place play-off. “I think everybody is rooting for him, for a lot of different reasons,” Strange, the 1988 and 1989 US Open champion and ESPN analyst said. “His talent level is equal to or better than anybody else out there.