In the buildup to The Masters each year, there are more popular bigger topics of discussion than Rory McIlroy's barren run at the tournament. The Down native has won the other three majors, but he has yet to land the big one at Augusta National.
He has come close in the past. His collapse in 2011 has become an infamous moment in his career, with the pressure of what would have been his first major victory getting to him during his final round. Since then, he has finished in the top ten on six occasions.
McIlroy is perhaps flying a bit more under the radar heading into the 2022 edition than he has in the past, although that will change if he can have a fast start on Thursday.
The 32-year old will also employ a slightly different approach in this tournament. Having previously cost himself by taking risky shots, he is planning a more conservative game plan on this occasion.
Rory McIlroy to replicate Dustin Johnson's Masters approach
Speaking ahead of Thursday's opening round, Rory McIlroy compared it to the way Dustin Johnson played in this event in 2020, with the Northern Ireland native partnering the American in the first two rounds as he went on to win The Masters for the first time.
I know if I play well, I'll give myself chances to win this golf tournament. It's just a matter of going out there and executing the way you know that you can and stick to your game plan and be patient and be disciplined and all the things you need to do around Augusta National.
It feels like playing very negatively, playing away from trouble, not firing at flagsticks, not being aggressive. It feels like a negative game plan, but it's not. It's just a smart game plan. It's playing the percentages.
Look, Sunday, if you need to take risks, you take risks obviously, but for the first 54 holes, you just have to stay as disciplined as possible. To me, yeah, that goes against my nature a little bit, so it is something I have to really work hard on...
I think [Johnson] was 12-under after two days (in 2020) … but I wasn't in awe of the way he played. It's just he did the right things and he put it in the right spots, and he holed a few putts and he took advantage of the par-5s, and he basically did everything that this golf course asks of you.
That's what this place is all about. It's as much of a chess game as anything else, and it's just about putting yourself in the right positions and being disciplined and being patient and knowing that pars are good, and even if you make a couple of pars on the par-5s, that's okay, and you just keep moving forward...
I think that's what wins you Masters. You see the highlights of people hitting heroic golf shots around here, but that's just one golf shot.
The rest of the time, they're doing the right things and being patient and being disciplined, and that's what wins you Green Jackets.
Rory McIlroy will be hoping that a more measured approach will pay dividends this year.
He still has plenty of time to win The Masters in his career, although each season presents a different opportunity to win a career grand slam. Should he manage to achieve the feat, he would be only the fifth man in the history of the game to do so.
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