AUGUSTA, Ga. — The expression on Rory McIlroy's face told the story. Standing well right on the 18th fairway, his ball nearly on the 10th tee, he let out a long sigh and shook his head. After building a 36-hole, six-shot cushion and owning last year's memorable final tee shot, this finish was supposed to be routine. Instead it became another tense escape at Augusta.
Last year’s perfect tee shot that set up a playoff win felt distant as McIlroy faced one last task: get the ball in the hole in five strokes and claim a second straight green jacket. He admitted winning here wasn’t as simple as he once imagined.
"I thought last year was hard because of the grand slam talk," he said. "This year reminded me: the Masters is just really difficult. I used to win by large margins in my early 20s — it doesn’t come that easily now."
McIlroy arrived at Augusta having stepped back to regain perspective. Instead of chasing streaks, he spent the three weeks before the tournament mostly at home and treated Augusta like his practice course. He made day trips, dropped his daughter Poppy at school, played single-ball rounds to simulate tournament pressure and worked methodically on chipping and put
