Nick Faldo Optimistic About Rory McIlroy’s Masters Triumph Prospects
Six-time major champion Nick Faldo remains positive about Rory McIlroy’s pursuit of Masters glory, emphasizing the golfer’s athletic prime and potential for success. Despite past setbacks, Faldo predicts McIlroy has over a decade to secure the coveted green jacket.
Six-time major champion Sir Nick Faldo has dismissed the notion that Rory McIlroy is running out of opportunities to win the coveted Masters title. Despite the Northern Irishman’s well-documented struggles at Augusta National over the years, Faldo believes the world number two still has at least another decade in his prime to finally clinch that elusive green jacket.
McIlroy, who will celebrate his 35th birthday next month, famously squandered a four-shot lead in the final round of the 2011 Masters. While he has recorded six top-10 finishes at the Georgia course since his 2014 Open Championship triumph, the career grand slam has continued to evade him. However, the 2022 runner-up, who finished third at the recent Texas Open, remains one of the favorites to triumph at this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event.
Faldo dismisses the idea that time is running out for the golfing superstar, emphasizing the physical advancements in the modern game. He explained, “The game has changed. We have brought the physical element in and we understand the physical side… They are so fit and trained now so he has got at least another 10 years I would say of being supersonically fit.”
The former world number one does acknowledge the “scar tissue” McIlroy has accumulated from his previous near-misses at Augusta, with the 2011 collapse and subsequent near-misses weighing heavily. Faldo stated, “Unfortunately it’s just going on, time after time. It’s not just this season. There’s four or five or six years of scar tissue now, of Rory coming in as favourite, playing great.”
Faldo believes McIlroy’s decision to step down from his role on the PGA Tour’s policy board, amid the ongoing battle with LIV Golf, could prove beneficial in his quest to finally don the green jacket. However, the golfing icon was critical of McIlroy’s decision to participate in a live “walk and talk” interview during the opening round of last year’s Masters, a move he deemed detrimental to the player’s focus.
As golf enthusiasts eagerly await the 2023 Masters, Faldo’s words of encouragement for McIlroy will no doubt resonate, with the Northern Irishman once again poised to challenge for the title that has eluded him for nearly a decade.
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