McIlroy, ‘Green Jacket’ challenge… Career Grand Slam, 9 out of 10 matches

2024-04-10 05:01:55

The first major Masters of the season opens on the 11th
26-year-old, 4 major wins without the Masters… Even though I played 15 times, I couldn’t wear the green jacket.
Included in the top 10 six times since 2015
Woods, who abstained last year, and LIV member Ram also participate.

When Rory McIlroy (35, Northern Ireland, photo) reached the top of the Open in July 2014 and collected three trophies from different major tournaments, he achieved a ‘Career Grand Slam’ (winning all four major men’s golf tournaments). ) seemed not far away. This is because he won the US Open in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012, and the Open, leaving only the Masters as a career Grand Slam.

A month later, in August 2014, McIlroy reached the top again at the PGA Championship, increasing his number of major championship wins to four, so it seemed like it was only a matter of time before he achieved the career grand slam. McIlroy was the third player to win four major championships before turning 25, following Jack Nicklaus (84) and Tiger Woods (49, USA). But the Masters did not give up the top easily. McIlroy challenged for the green jacket every year for nine years from 2015 to last year, but failed in all of them.

A gallery with a ‘green hat’… Pay phone instead of smartphone On the 9th, two days before the opening of the Masters, the first major tournament of the PGA Tour season, a gallery member is watching a practice round wearing a hat in the shape of a green (top photo). This hat boasts the best-selling record among Masters souvenirs. Public phones are still popular because electronic devices that can transmit photos or videos, such as smartphones, are not allowed at Augusta National Golf Club, the venue of the Masters tournament. Augusta = AP Newsis

McIlroy will participate in the Masters, the first major tournament of the PGA Tour season, to be held at Augusta National Golf Club (par 72) in Georgia, USA, starting on the 11th, aiming for his 10th career Grand Slam in 9 matches. The Career Grand Slam is a record achieved by only five people in history, including Ben Hogan (1912-1997) and Nicklaus, and was last achieved by Woods in 2000.

This is McIlroy’s 16th time participating in the Masters. This is his 10th participation since the 2015 tournament, when he had the chance to win the Career Grand Slam. McIlroy’s best performance in the Masters is a runner-up finish in 2022. McIlroy has shown decent performance, ranking in the top 10 six times since 2015, but was unable to win the championship.

McIlroy also decided not to participate in the ‘Par 3 Contest’, a traditional event held the day before the opening of the Masters. This is to focus on the game. “I can definitely tell you that my shot feels better than it did a few weeks ago,” McIlroy said. If I control myself well, the results will follow. “I’m ready for the challenge at Augusta,” he said, showing confidence.

McIlroy’s strongest competitor in this tournament is world number one Scotty Scheffler (28, USA). Scheffler, who was also the Masters champion two years ago when McIlroy finished runner-up, finished in the top 10 seven times, including two wins, in the eight competitions he participated in this season. In his final appearance before the Masters, he finished runner-up at the Texas Children’s Houston Open on the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour office ranked Schaeffler first when it announced the power rankings predicting the winner of this year’s Masters. American media outlet CBS Sports also selected Schaeffler as the top candidate for the championship, followed by McIlroy, ranked second in the world. British betting site ‘William Hill’ also predicted Scheffler’s odds of winning the highest, followed by McIlroy’s odds of winning the second highest.

‘Defending champion’ and world No. 3 Yon Lam (30, Spain) is attempting to defend his title for the first time in 22 years since Woods in 2002. Rahm was ranked 2nd in this tournament’s power rankings, higher than McIlroy (5th). After winning the Masters last year, Lam moved to LIV Golf, which is backed by Saudi Arabian capital. A total of 89 players are participating in this year’s Masters, and 13 of them are from LIV, including Ram. Attention is also focused on whether LIV will win his first Masters title. Last year’s PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka (34, USA) is the only LIV player to reach the top of a major tournament. Koepka’s power ranking participating in this tournament is 3rd.

Woods, who withdrew from last year’s Masters tournament during the third round due to pain in the sole of his foot, will also participate. It is his 26th appearance since his first participation in 1995. Woods, who has 15 wins in major championships, recorded the most wins (5) in the Masters (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019). Woods has not been able to produce remarkable results since his right leg was seriously injured in a car accident in February 2021, and his performance has dropped significantly. Four Korean players will participate, including Kim Si-woo (29), Kim Joo-hyung (22), An Byeong-hun (33), and Lim Seong-jae (26). The best performance in Masters history by a Korean player is Seongjae Lim’s runner-up finish in 2020.

Reporter Kim Jeong-hoon [email protected]

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2024-04-10 05:01:55