Rory McIlroy Admits His Ultimate Masters ‘Regret’ Months After Being Forced to Lick His Augusta Wounds

Will Rory McIlroy ever win the Masters? A question that might have crossed the mind of Rory McIlroy and a golf enthusiast as well. With 24 victories on the PGA Tour, 16 DP World Tour titles, and four major wins expanding his career, the only thing McIlroy could not achieve yet is winning at the Augusta National.

After 18 years of becoming a professional golfer, this feat has been outside the reach of the Northern Irish golfer. Now as he inches closer to participating in another edition of Masters, McIlroy expresses whether not acquiring the green jacket would cause him regret.

If Rory McIlroy never won the Masters, what would he feel?

Throughout his decade-long career, Rory McIlroy has won the PGA Championship and the Open Championship once, while securing the U.S. Open title twice. However, he has never once won the Masters tournament, in 2022. He did come close to winning it, but disappointingly, had to suffice with a runner-up finish. While the 2023 Masters was way worse than any other edition because McIlroy could not even make the cut.

Sitting down with the Stick to Football podcast, McIlroy talked about Augusta National and shared his thoughts if he never won it. He declared the Masters course as the “cathedral of golf” and expressed its significance by stating that “all the greats of the game have won there in the past,” and as it is the first major to be played, “it’s more hyped up.”

So, right at the end, the host asked McIlroy, what would he feel, if he would never win at the Cathedral? The 24x PGA Tour winner said that he would be “comfortable” with what’s has achieved in his career. He further explained that he “never expected to get as far as” he has and would be “very happy” with it. However, he may feel “with a tinge of sort of regret“ while looking back at his career, if he were to never accomplish the Masters. Another thing that McIlroy would miss is the Masters champion’s dinner party.

As the tradition goes of the Masters tournament, the defending champions host a dinner night for all the former champions in the prior week on Tuesday. The Irishman said he would miss these “little things” if he would never miss the green jacket in his career. To not miss those small traditions of the Masters and attempt to win this year, McIlroy has drawn on a plan.

2024 Masters’ plan by Rory McIlroy

The last time Rory McIlroy played at Augusta National, he was to face elimination and miss the cut. A year before that, he was solo second and three strokes away from winning the title when Scottie Scheffler donned the green jacket. This year, McIlroy has made a strategic plan to not lose out on the Masters.

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So what is McIlroy gonna do differently? The 4-time majors champion has decided to “play more” events leading up to the Masters in April. The 34-year-old described that he has observed playing more and better after the Masters’ end. So, to have to bag the Masters jacket and become sharp, he will playing more events.

The Masters is only three months away and McIlroy has not yet started playing in any event. He is not playing at The Sentry and had previously declared the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to be his first PGA Tour stop. However, McIlroy will be playing the Dubai Invitational and the Hero Dubai Classic on the DP World Tour in January. Will Rory McIlroy successfully claim his fifth major and first Masters at the 2024 edition?

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