If Masters mania has dominated Rory McIlroy's professional life since securing the US PGA Championship eight months ago, then the origins of his affinity with Augusta National pre-date that by quite some distance.
Georgia has long been on his mind. Eighteen years, in fact.
“I watched Tiger’s amazing 12-shot victory at the 1997 Masters and was completely blown away,” says McIlroy, who arrives this week at the season’s first major looking to make his own entry in the history books.
Slip into the green jacket on Sunday and he will become only the third male golfer, after Woods and Jack Nicklaus, to win all four of the game’s major titles, the “career grand slam” – before his 26th birthday. Presumably, Tiger torching it in 1997 would seem light years away.
“I was with my dad and we sat shaking our heads at the ability of this relatively unknown, young guy,” McIlroy says. “I said in an interview recently that, for me, this was the dawning of golf’s new era, even though I couldn’t quite put it into words then.”
Little wonder. McIlroy may have already been proficient with driver and putter back then, but he was still three weeks shy of his eighth birthday. Nevertheless, the sight of defending champion Nick Faldo anointing his successor, and thus honour a Masters tradition, remains etched in McIlroy’s mind. So, too, does the resolve to one day follow suit.
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“It was so special,” he says. “Because I honestly remember Faldo putting on Tiger’s green jacket and saying to myself: ‘I need to do this. I want to do this. I’m going to get to work on it’.”
He did just that. The intervening years have perhaps flashed by, yet McIlroy’s position at the head of the sport, at age 25, is as clear as an Augustan spring. The Northern Irishman not only drives down Magnolia Lane with a substantial lead in the world rankings, but also as hoarder of the past two major trophies, a four-time major champion in all, and as the only guy in the field able to emulate the quintet to have captured golf’s most-coveted quartet. Sarazen, Hogan, Nicklaus, Player, Woods: it constitutes a pretty luminous list.
So the spotlight burns bright. McIlroy, by now adept at life-in-the-lens, and having experienced eight months of probing since that final putt dropped in the dark at Valhalla, concedes the scene awaiting him on the first tee on Thursday “will be a little on the lively side”. Onus, though, could be recast a bonus.
“I see it as a great opportunity and really have to set out to try and get the job done,” he says. “I’m very excited and looking forward to the task ahead, and I’ll just have to accept that there’ll be an intense amount of hype, as at all majors.
“It’s essentially what happens with the world No 1 position – there are the expectations that come with the territory.”
By now, Augusta National represents familiar territory. This week, McIlroy will make his seventh appearance there. Last year he recorded his best finish by coming home eighth, although he never really contended. Most say his game, a towering draw and considerable length off the tee, is perfectly suited to the Bobby Jones-Alister Mackenzie layout, but McIlroy’s total scorecard there has included 11 double bogeys, three triple bogeys and five rounds of 77 or worse.
The nadir was 2011. Possessing a four-shot lead heading into Sunday, McIlroy saw it disintegrate as he posted a final-round 80 and finished in a tie for 15th.
His capitulation, illustrated most vividly by the photograph of McIlroy surveying his second shot on 10 – 50 yards off compass and stranded between the cabins beyond the pines – was tough to contemplate, let alone confront.
Three shots dropped on that hole, mind frazzled, he three-putted the 11th and needed an extra one to get the job done on 12. “Everything’s going too fast,” he said afterwards. “But it’s hard to slow down without the experience.”
Yet the experience formed him; it forged McIlroy The Major Champion. Within two months, he had lapped the field at Congressional to win the US Open, the first of his four prized successes. That meltdown at the Masters is now viewed as the pivotal point of his professional development.
“I look back on that Sunday as something that is all part of a bigger picture in my golfing career,” McIlroy says. “I won’t shy away and say it didn’t matter because it did hurt at the time; nobody likes to throw away a lead, especially on Sunday afternoon at Augusta.
“Learning from it was the important part for me. Winning the US Open two months later allowed me to put the Masters into perspective. If I think back to then, I’d say that I was just in too much of a hurry to win. Perhaps I tried to force an outcome that required a little more patience.”
Patience could be hard to come by this week, as McIlroy attempts to take his place in golf’s pantheon. He has limited his time in the glare since last teeing it up at Bay Hill three weeks ago – he finished tied-11th on debut there – preferring instead to put in the yards at the Bear’s Club, near his Florida home at Jupiter.
However, the earth has still spun on McIlroy’s axis. Most recently, the world No 1 has been prominent in slick advertisements for various blue-chip sponsors – his Bose commercial begins with the line “Six weeks to Georgia” – not to mention on the front cover of non-golf-specific magazines, most noticeably Men’s Health and the New York Times’ Sunday supplement.
But to fulfil a dream stretching back 18 years, there is only one statement, fashion or otherwise, McIlroy wants to make come Sunday, amid the azaleas and the dogwoods. Save a seat in Butler Cabin, Bubba.
“Of course, putting on the green jacket would be an amazing experience,” he says. “And I’d love a wardrobe full of them. But I think that’s tempting fate a little. I’m up against around 100 other very capable guys who have similar designs on that same jacket. Being the world’s No 1 and attempting a career grand slam is a big ask and not without its pressures ... but I do thrive on the challenge.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2
Vinicius Junior (71') Mariano (90 2')
Barcelona 0
CREW
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
