Rory McIlroy’s early Masters exit a true surprise

AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s the inherent nature of golf that even its finest exponents move inexplicably between the roles of pigeon and statue. Corey Conners won the Valero Texas Open five days ago and Kurt Kitayama claimed the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month. Neither will see weekend action at the 87th Masters. The list of the fallen includes those who might have been expected to survive the cut based on form (Min Woo Lee, who contended recently at the Players Championship) or formula (Tom Hoge, who leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Approach but underperformed on a course known as the ultimate test of iron play).

But no exit is more surprising than that of Rory McIlroy.

The world No. 2 has missed only two cuts since the 2022 Masters. One came at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August, and he went on to win the PGA Tour’s $18 million playoff prize two weeks later. The other was last month at the Players Championship, which he followed with a strong third-place showing at the WGC-Match Play. He won’t yet care what will follow this Masters disappointment.

As he heads home to Florida, McIlroy will be burning with fury, though not at others (he ain’t Sergio!). He sets a high standard for himself and at Augusta National, he fell woefully short. His poor play will offer a moment’s sustenance to the drooling slapnuts who populate the replies of LIV’s social media sycophants, but their target will neither notice nor care. The only verdict that matters is his own, and it will be harsh.

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Accomplishing the career grand slam is an enormous weight on McIlroy, ratcheting up through every spring so that by the time he turns down Magnolia Lane it’s rattling around his head like the deafening clank of an MRI machine. He then waits a few days in the echo chamber, politely answering questions on the subject, before it comes time to try anew. And that’s when the difficulties really arise.

McIlroy understands the challenges he creates for himself in the early going. He knows that getting off to a good start is key, but hasn’t broken par in the opening round in his last five attempts. He knows that on average winners miss only 20 greens for the week; he missed 16 in two days. He knows that eventual champions don’t come from the deeper recesses of the Day One leaderboard, that Augusta National isn’t favorable to chasers (unless they’re chasing Greg Norman). He knows that the Masters is…