2 weeks Ago By Jake Bayliss
Padraig Harrington has revealed the impact that Jordan Spieth’s rise had on Rory McIlroy in the past . On Sunday, McIlroy ended his 11-year wait to complete a career grand slam by winning his first Masters title. The Northern Irishman was forced to work hard for the Green Jacket, with Justin Rose matching his 11-under-par score to force a dramatic playoff.
Despite the pressure, McIlroy sunk a birdie putt for a movie-script ending to an unforgettable Masters . Following his Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Players Championship victories earlier this year. McIlroy arrived at Augusta in strong form.
However, golf icon Harrington has insisted that McIlroy hasn’t always had the same level of confidence heading into the Masters, particularly during Spieth’s emergence a decade ago. “As much as Rory’s been the best player for the last 15 years overall, we have had players come and go in that period that have shaken Rory,” Harrington admitted to the Irish Independent . “Jordan Spieth, for sure, put Rory on edge.
He was worried about [him]. So we've had players like that. “Scottie [Scheffler] and Xander [Schauffele] have both been injured this year.
They both haven’t shown the form. So Rory knew he was the man.” Spieth previously tied Tiger Woods’ course record during his Masters victory in 2015 and followed it up by winning the US Open in the same year.
World No.1 Scheffler has two Masters titles, while Schauffele clinched two wins at majors last year. Despite previously feeling the pressure, Harrington believes McIlroy headed into the Masters knowing he was better than his old rivals.
“There was no point in everyone else telling him; he knew he was the man this year,” Harrington said, recalling McIlroy's first major win at the US Open. “Like back in 2011, he strutted his way around Congressional. It was outrageous how much he was better than everybody but knew it.
“It was like [Colin Montgomerie] in the 90s back on the European Tour or Tiger Woods at his best. Rory had that feeling going into the Masters. “It wasn’t there on Sunday, in the sense that there was a nervousness.
The anxiousness was there, but I think he definitely felt like he was the man.” In terms of how McIlroy’s former adversaries fared last weekend, Scheffler ended three shots off the lead in fourth; Schauffele finished T8; and Spieth was slightly further back in T14. Harrington was confident that McIlroy would win the Masters at his 17th attempt after the pair crossed paths in Houston last month.
However, McIlroy’s final round didn’t go as many would have predicted, with the occasion taking its toll and forcing him to lose his usual composure on the course. Speaking about McIlroy showing signs of emotion, Harrington admitted: “You just don’t see that with Rory, but that was very human. That’s how everybody reacts but we just don’t see it with Rory that often because I’m sure he likes winning and they’re big tournaments he’s winning, but they don’t mean as much as that one did.
“All those other wins over the last 15 years, where he has won everything over and over again...
Rory has stood there and smiled for the cameras but they didn’t mean what winning the Masters meant to him, and that’s the difference.”.
