Rory McIlroy has tried for 14 years, but this Masters is different

AUGUSTA, Ga. — AS RORY MCILROY started his pre-Masters news conference on Tuesday, he glanced to the side at a videoboard, which featured a photo of him triumphantly raising his arms after he chipped in from a bunker on the 72nd hole of the 2022 tournament.

It was the final shot of McIlroy's latest attempt at becoming only the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam in the Masters era, and although he once again fell short, he seems convinced that it was a turning point in his quest to join the most elite fraternity in the sport. It was an exclamation point on an 8-under 64 final round, which put him solo second on the leaderboard, 3 shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler.

«The only thing that I can say is that I proved to myself that I could do it,» McIlroy said. «As much as I didn't really get into contention, 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 eagle 13 and to have those feelings, in my mind, anyway, I felt like it was a breakthrough.»

McIlroy has won four major championships and captured victories 23 times on the PGA Tour and 15 times in Europe. He has been ranked No. 1 in the world nine times during his career, most recently just two months ago. Now ranked behind only Scheffler, he is once again among the favorites to win the Masters and add an elusive green jacket to his wardrobe.

To finally complete the career Grand Slam in his ninth attempt and end a more than eight-year drought without a major championship victory, McIlroy will have to battle more than the lightning-fast greens of Augusta National and a field that includes the best players in the world. He'll also have to tackle the ghosts and scar tissue of past Masters