The Masters 2026: Why Rory McIlroy can ‘take pleasure in each minute’ of title defence with out additional stress at Augusta Nationwide

Butch Harmon believes Rory McIlroy will take pleasure in each minute of his title defence at The Masters and insists there is no such thing as a additional stress on him to duplicate final yr’s “spectacular” win at Augusta Nationwide.

McIlroy returns to The Masters for the primary time since finishing the profession Grand Slam, having ended an 11-year await an elusive fifth main title by claiming a dramatic play-off win over Justin Rose final April.

An emotional victory ended a run of 21 top-10 finishes for McIlroy in majors – and a string of near-misses – since his 2014 PGA Championship success, with the world No 2 turning into simply the sixth male in historical past to finish the profession Grand Slam.

McIlroy can now be a part of Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the one gamers to efficiently defend The Masters title, reside from Thursday on Sky Sports activities Golf, though Harmon believes the Northern Irishman is not going to be anxious about finishing one other unique {golfing} milestone.

“Normally, I would say, yes, there would be more pressure on him with a chance to defend his title,” Harmon stated in a media name forward of working as a part of Sky Sports activities’ commentary workforce at The Masters.

“I believe as a result of he received final yr and obtained that off his again, that he now has the Inexperienced Jacket, I do not assume he will be as uptight as most individuals would assume he was going to be.

“I believe we will see a extra relaxed Rory there this yr. His sport is beginning to development in an excellent course. He jogs my memory of Tiger at that golf course. He has the power – the best way he drives the ball – to take over the golf course.

“I think we’re going to see a Rory that doesn’t need to put the pressure on himself that he had been to try and win this thing and get to the Grand Slam, so I think it’s going to be to his advantage. I think he’ll be relaxed and be able to play to the best of his ability.”

McIlroy got here by way of a final-round tussle with Bryson DeChambeau throughout final yr’s success, the place he blew a commanding lead on the again 9 – simply as he had within the 2011 contest – earlier than overcoming Rose with a birdie on the primary additional play-off gap.

“I think it [McIlroy’s win] was spectacular,” Harmon added. “Because of what it was, because how long it had been since Rory had won to get the career Grand Slam and everything, the pressure that was on him.

“I do know from doing the commentary at Sky that even I used to be nervous, and I am often not nervous doing commentary, simply because I had no concept what was going to occur. Being a giant Rory fan, I used to be simply hoping he would pull it off and it turned out to be one thing particular.”

McIlroy’s memorable win after back-nine drama

The previous world No 1 had command of the event till an explicable double-bogey on the par-five thirteenth, with a dropped shot on the subsequent seeing Rose transfer forward after the Englishman’s birdie burst.

McIlroy produced a contender for shot of his profession with a shocking method from the pines on the par-five fifteenth, establishing a two-putt birdie, then cancelled out a birdie on the seventeenth with a bogey on the final earlier than his play-off win.

“I was very surprised with a pitch shot on 13 to be honest with you, when you’ve got a slope 30 feet left of the hole that’ll bring the ball down to the flag,” Harmon defined. “I think he just lost his concentration or something there, which I thought was unusual for Rory.

“The truth that he went to lay-up too was additionally a bit of uncommon, contemplating how aggressive he’s. Then he righted the ship with only a phenomenal shot to 17. That again pin is so arduous to get to – there is a massive downslope there and the ball goes away, so I assumed that was nice.

“It was not as bad a wedge shot on the last hole as I think people gave him credit for, because of the fact that he was aiming more towards the middle of the green – not at the flag – because he had the lead.

“He simply pushed it a bit of after which did not stand up and down. Then we go to the play-off, the place he virtually has the very same shot, and he knocks it in there stiff and wins the event. Now he can stroll round in his Inexperienced Jacket all day lengthy and he will love each minute of it.”

Augusta affords ‘holy grail of golf’ after ‘disgusting’ Ryder Cup

The Masters is the primary main since September’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, the place Group Europe overcame a hostile environment from the New York crowd to assert a well-known win on away soil.

“I thought the Ryder Cup was disgusting,” Harmon added. “It was embarrassing being an American. I simply did not really feel I wished to be a part of it. I am disgusted with the best way it was.

“This is the beauty of Augusta – this is the best-behaved patrons in all of golf. I love the Open Championship because all the gallery people understand golf and they understand how to cheer.

“At this place, it is like a holy grail of golf in the USA. it is tough to get a ticket to return to this occasion. It is in all probability the toughest occasion to get a ticket to and the patrons there are very properly behaved, as a result of they’re the identical people who come again yr after yr.

“I hated the way things were going at the Ryder Cup. I thought it was a terrible embarrassment for the United States and let’s hope it never happens again.”

McIlroy performed a key function in Europe’s Ryder Cup success, profitable 3.5 factors after top-scoring in Rome two years earlier, with Harmon anticipating him and Scottie Scheffler to problem for victory at The Masters this week.

“I think the obvious ones are Rory and Scheffler, because they’re the number one and two players in the world,” Harmon predicted. “He [McIlroy] had 11 years between winning majors and last year he pulled it off in a phenomenal fashion.

“He [Scheffler] seems to be a little frustrated on the course every now and then, which is a side of him we didn’t see. But he’s still Scheffler and he’s a phenomenal competitor. Whether he has his A game, his B game, his C game, it doesn’t matter, he gives you 110 per cent.

“He has received there earlier than, he is aware of learn how to win round there and he is the primary participant on this planet. I believe when you’re in search of the automated favourites, it’s in all probability going to be Rory and Scottie, so we’ll simply should see what occurs.”

Who will win The Masters? Watch the opening major of the year exclusively live from April 9-12 on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the first round begins on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports activities or stream with no contract.

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