For 38 consecutive big starts spanning a decade, Rory McIlroy didn’t win a major. Now, after him consecutive Masters titleshe has won two of his last five starts.
So what’s next? Another Irish star is predicting big things.
“Rory can win 10 of them at this stage, or five of them, anyway,” said Padraig Harrington, speaking at Concession Golf Club in Florida on Tuesday ahead of this week’s Senior PGA Championship. “He’ll probably still be competitive at 50 around that golf course. For him, it was interesting that he won it with his short game, which makes him an even better player.
“He’s always been a great player, but now it’s with the placement and things like that,” he continued. “A very well-rounded game and a game that looks like it has a lot of longevity in it. So he’s in a very good place going forward, especially in that tournament you would think. It’s amazing when he wins one, that he now has two, and we’re thinking maybe two or three or five would be realistic around that golf course.”
Harrington’s opinion that McIlroy, who turns 37 next month, can compete at Augusta National after his start is not crazy. Jack Nicklaus famously won at Augusta National at age 46 in 1986. Tiger Woods was 43 when he won in 2019. Even Fred Couples, who plays little golf these days, became the oldest player to make a Masters cut when he made the weekend at age 63 in 2023.
Last week, McIlroy held a six-shot, 36-hole lead at Augusta but lost it all in the third round on Saturday. He started Sunday sharing the lead with Cameron Young but fell back after a bogey 5 on the par-3 4th hole, but he took control with back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 to beat Scottie Scheffler by one.
“He showed really good character there,” Harrington said. “You know, psychologically he really won that tournament. His mentality and the way he went about things, that’s a very strong showing for him. He’s obviously still got the physical side of the game, but showing that short game and the mental side of the game means he looks like he’s going to be a very strong force for a while to come.”
While we won’t make our claims about how many more Masters titles McIlroy can win, we will say he has work to do. Nicklaus holds the record with six Masters wins. Woods has five, and Arnold Palmer won four. If McIlroy wins another, he will be the sixth golfer to win three.
