AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy is a green jacket away from a career grand slam, something only five players have done in the history of golf. But each year, the Masters has eluded him. He has seven top-10 finishes in the tournament, including second in 2022, yet each year has been denied.

Maybe he's trying too hard.

"This golf course gets you to chase things a little more than other golf courses if you make a bogey or get yourself out of position," said McIlroy, 34, among the favorites in the 2024 Masters, which begins Thursday. "Because it always tempts you to do something you think you can do."

It's important to remember, he said this week, that the Masters is a 72-hole golf tournament and you cannot win it from the first tee shot.

"I'm pretty confident in my golf game," McIlroy said. "I think I can do most things, but sometimes you just have to take the conservative route and be a little more disciplined and patient."

McIlroy is second in the World Golf Rankings behind Scottie Scheffler, although that metric is skewed because it doesn't factor in LIV Golf events — and that competing tour has a significant footprint on this year's Masters.

This year's 13-member LIV contingent includes defending Masters champion Jon Rahm; Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, who tied for second; and Patrick Reed, who finished fourth.

Rahm is looking to become the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters, joining Jack Nicklaus, who repeated in 1966, Nick Faldo (1990) and Tiger Woods (2002).

Rahm has played in five LIV events this year and has yet to win. But neither Nicklaus nor Faldo had won anywhere coming into the Masters the years they repeated, and Woods had won once. So coming to Augusta on a hot or cold streak is not an especially reliable predictor of how someone is going to do.

"I feel physically better than I did last year," Rahm said. "But then once the competition starts, it doesn't really matter. Once the gun goes off, whatever you feel is out the window; you've got to go out there and post a score.

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