Rory McIlroy now involved in golf's 'cool conversation' after Masters magic

Brooks Koepka is another good example. When he was a major machine for a spell and landed five of the game’s marquee titles in a short space of time, we all thought he would quite easily go on and get close to reaching double figures. He’s not won another one, though, in 11 attempts.

Then, of course, there is Rory McIlroy. He had four majors under his belt by the time he won The Open in 2014, yet then went more than a decade without managing to add to his haul. He finally ended that drought when winning the Masters last year and is now up to six, joining Nick Faldo, on that mark after becoming just the fourth player to win back-to-back at Augusta National.

The question everyone is asking now is how many can the Northern Irishman go on and win. It could be a lot, to be honest, especially in the Masters because, as we’d seen long before he actually got the job done there, the Georgia venue is tailormade for him.

McIlroy was asked in his media conference in the Press Building on Sunday night about having talked in the past about wanting to be considered the greatest European golfer of all time. With all due respect to both Faldo and Seve Ballesteros, he probably is already and, as always, he provided an insightful answer.

“Today I tie Nick, so, yeah, there's obviously going to be that conversation, and that debate is going to be hard,” McIlroy commented. “But it's a cool conversation to be a part of. It took me ten years to win my fifth major, and then my sixth one's come pretty soon after it. I'm not putting a number on it, but I certainly don't want to stop here.”

As has often been the case in his Masters career in particular, McIlroy made life difficult for himself in the event’s 90th edition. After opening with rounds of 67-65 to hold a record six-shot lead at the halfway stage, it looked as though the 36-year-old might go on and win comfortably in his bid to join Nicklaus, Faldo and Woods as the only players to land successive Green Jackets.

McIlroy came up with big shots in Amen Corner

He then opened the door for the chasing back by carding a rare over par round here on Saturday before finding himself a two shots behind Justin Rose at one point in the closing circuit. That McIlroy eventually prevailed once again was down to a few factors.

One was that Rose, so often the nearly man in this tournament, missed out again as he endured a sore visit to Amen Corner, where he bogeyed both the 11th and 12th before three-putting the 13th. Another was two-time winner and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler going on a par run in the middle of his round before making a late charge only to come up just short.

Equally significant, though, was McIlroy coming up with some big shots on the back nine. No more so probably than his tee shot at the treacherous 12th, where he hit a 9-iron to nine feet and made what was just the third birdie of the day there.

“Yeah, absolutely huge, huge shot in the tournament,” he admitted. In a great example of how experience is so vital at this place, he revealed: “In one of my first-ever practice rounds here, I played with Tom Watson in 2009, and he said to me on the 12th tee he always waited until he felt where the wind should be and then just hit it. You know, just hit it as soon as you can.

“That's what I did on 12. It was all over the place. When I stood up on the tee, it felt like it was off the right, and I looked at the 11th flag, it was blowing right to left. But I was patient, and I waited to feel where the wind should have been coming from, and I knew it was just a perfect three-quarter 9-iron.

“I aimed it at the middle of the bunker. Probably didn't anticipate it to drift as far right as it did. That's why you give yourself a little bit of margin for error. That was a really good golf shot at the right time and probably a golf shot I wouldn't have been able to hit yesterday if I didn't go to the range and try to figure a few things out and try to neutralise the ball flight a little bit.”

‘Good things come to those who wait’

Equally important was a booming drive - his first good one of the week there - at the 13th, allowing him to have an 8-iron in his hands for the second shot and also make another birdie, as well as a lovely lag putt from through the back at the 16th. His drive at the last was probably one of the worst that has probably been hit there in the event, but, in the end, it didn’t matter.

“Good things come to those who wait maybe,” replied a proud multiple Masters champion to being asked what the event had taught him about not only the golf course but life as well. “Keep your head down and just keep it going. If you put the hours in and work on the right things, eventually it will come good for you.”

Now let’s see how many more majors he can claim and one he’d love, of course, is an Open at St Andrews. The 2027 edition on the Old Course can’t come quick enough!