ALL EYES ON RORY

At age 33, Rory Mcllroy ascended (again) to World No. 1. And in testy times he's emerged as the inspirational leader of the PGA Tour. As always, we like his chances of triumphing at the Masters. Because right now he might be more of a fighter than he's ever been.

- DYLAN DETHIER

IT WAS SUNDAY at the 2011 Masters when Rory McIlroy, the bushy-haired, baby-faced 21-year-old phenom from small-town Northern Ireland, stepped up to Augusta National’s 10th tee, clinging to the one shot remaining from his overnight four-shot lead. What followed belongs somewhere in the What If Wing of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

McIlroy’s tee shot torpedoed off a tree and into the forest. He took a drop near the adjacent cabins, likely a place no Masters competitor has ever visited. He hit another branch upon attempted reentry, took two more shots to reach the green and walked off with a triple-bogey 7. It only got worse from there. McIlroy three-putted the 11th hole, four-putted the 12th and found water off the 13th tee. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t won; McIlroy had self-immolated. He ultimately posted 80 for a share of 15th place, 10 shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel.

One thing is clear: That final round feels like a very long time ago. And another thing: It’s impossible to know its ripple effect. Losing builds scar tissue, but it builds determination too. Maybe it was that failure that propelled McIlroy over the top at the very next major, the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, where he set a slew of scoring records and won by eight. He was hungry enough to earn another eight-shot major win at the PGA Championship the following year, then, in 2014, the Open Championship and a second PGA. But a third thing became clear: As his résumé grew, the Masters-sized gap in his trophy case began to feel chasmic.