'The First True Legend Of The Post-Tiger Woods Era' - NBC Analysts Pile Pressure On McIlroy With Bold Claims About His Masters Chances

There is almost certainly no player in the 2025 Masters field who people would like to see win more than Rory McIlroy.

The Northern Irishman is already one of the most popular golfers on the planet, and his elusive and endearing quest for the career Grand Slam means that his story is one fans follow most closely each passing year.

As the 35-year-old heads into his latest crack at earning a Green Jacket, two early-season wins on the PGA Tour and a relative lack of form among his rivals has only served to heighten the anticipation surrounding the World No.2's chances.

Speaking at Golf Central's Live From The Masters press conference on Tuesday, the program's renowned trio of analysts - Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley - each took turns in fanning the flames on the burning expectation regarding McIlroy.

More than a week out from the very first tee shot, Lerner was already eager to explain what a McIlroy victory would mean from a wider contextual standpoint.

He said: "If Rory does win, I think this Masters would be in the same historical neighborhood as 1986 [Jack Nicklaus], 1997 [Tiger Woods], and 2019 [Tiger Woods]. Rory would be, in my estimation, the first true legend of the post-Tiger Woods era, becoming the sixth to have won a Career Grand Slam.

"There have been great players, obviously, in the post-Tiger era, Brooks [Koepka], Scottie [Scheffler] and Dustin Johnson, maybe Xander Schauffele is on his way there. But Rory would be a legend of a different stripe...

"It doesn’t mean he’s going to win. It just means he’s much better equipped. He’s all grown up now. Just a simple way to say it. I think Rory has it together now in a way that I don’t think we could have said before."

Quick to tack on to Lerner's point, Chamblee believes McIlroy is in the best place he's ever been heading into The Masters.

Chamblee said: "There’s a reason for the golf world to be excited about the possibility, and again, from a competitive standpoint, he’s never gone into the Masters playing better or sharper from a competitive standpoint.

"To get there, though, obviously he’s got to get over Scottie Scheffler, and right, he’s on the cusp of doing what only Jack Nicklaus has done, as Rich pointed out."

Off the back of a missed cut and T22nd finish in the past two attempts, McIlroy is not heading to Augusta with particularly fond recent memories, but McGinley suggested the current golfing landscape is set up in favor of the man from Holywood with a lack of form elsewhere and his own excellent start to life on the PGA Tour in 2025 potentially aiding his chances.

He said: "Without trying to pile too much pressure on Rory on already what’s there, there’s a couple of things lining up at this moment in time, but they have lined up in the past, remember, too, and things haven’t worked out for him.

"Not only do you have Rory winning two of the biggest events so far on the PGA Tour, the fact that he has also won it with his B game, that’s new. That’s an evolution of Rory McIlroy. That’s different than what we’ve seen before.

"When you go to a tournament knowing that you have to produce your best to win, that’s one thing. But when you go there and you feel like I don’t have to be quite on my game here and I can still win, and I’ll tell you what, I can prove it, look what I did at the TPC, that gives you a broader sense of confidence. So that’s one area that Rory will be going with."

McGinley suggested that McIlroy's work with distinguished golf psychologist, Dr Bob Rotella over the past year or more will also help the man who hasn't won a Major since 2014 successfully cross the final hurdle at some point soon.

The Irishman continued: "The biggest challenge for Rory is the mental one. I know that Bob Rotella has been a huge influence on him in the last 18 months, and I think he’ll have him very well prepared now.

"This is not the first rodeo going into the Masters working together. They’ve had two or three runs at this now, and I think they will be coming up with a plan in terms of taking that pressure and kind of decimating it and putting it aside, so I think he’ll be well prepared mentally because of the work he’s doing with Bob.

"Two or three of those things all colliding together gets me a little bit buoyed. I’m not going to say over-buoyed, and I’m certainly not going to say giddy, but a little bit buoyed that he does have a strong chance this year in comparison to other years."

THE MASTERS IS RORY MCILROY'S TO LOSE

While McGinley was keen not to overstate his optimism regarding McIlroy's prospects, Chamblee did not mince his words and called the World No.2 this year's outright favorite at Augusta National.

Of McIlroy, Chamblee said: "This Masters is his to win or lose. It’s his. Likely, he’s not going to catch Scheffler a little bit more off of his game than Scheffler is right now. Xander is a little bit off of his game. There are things about Augusta National that don’t quite fit Collin Morikawa. Ludvig is a little bit off of his game.

"You go down the list, and it’s like, his closest competitors, the ones that are apt to give him his greatest challenge, you could all say are a little off their game, and Rory has never been in a better spot going into the Masters.

"From a technical standpoint and a mental standpoint, this is Rory’s... For four days, get after it. It’s his week. There’s never been a better week for him to win the Masters. Never.

"We keep saying he’s got plenty of time, and he does. He’s 35. But most of the winners of the Masters have been 35 years of age of older. This is a golf course that bows a little bit to age and experience, so from a power standpoint, he’s never been more powerful. Metaphorically and literally. It’s his if he takes care of business.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE COMPARES RORY MCILROY AND THE MASTERS TO THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

The night before McIlroy sealed his second Players triumph via a playoff, the Northern Irishman was so nervous that he ordered room service and stayed up watching 'The Devil Wears Prada' - the comedy-drama where Meryl Streep's character Miranda Priestly terrorizes Andrea Sachs (played by Anne Hatheway) for much of the movie until the protagonist eventually stands up to her adversary and gains her reward.

Using the same film as an analogy relating to McIlroy and his inability to close the deal at Augusta National, Chamblee believes a new golf ball will help the four-time Major winner achieve the same sort of success that Sachs' fresh attitude garnered her in The Devil Wears Prada.

Chamblee said: "As it relates to Augusta National and Rory McIlroy to continue this “Devil Wears Prada” theme going a little bit further, I would say Augusta National is the Miranda Priestly for Rory McIlroy playing as Andrea Sachs. It is his nemesis. It brings out the worst golf in Rory annually that we see almost every year.

"It was his worst golf last year in majors, worst golf the year before. Two years before that, it was his worst golf. He annually underperforms there. He hits on average about 42 greens, and on average, the winner hits about 52 greens.

"There are things about that golf course that have been very problematic for him, but I will say him switching to a softer ball, I think, really does harken and give us greater hope for his success there because it’s forcing him to get on top of it. It’s getting him to cover it.

"I ran into Curt Byrum yesterday when I was out tossing around the golf course. Curt was following his group on Sunday at the Texas Open. He said that he is on top of it and sliding down these wonderful wedge shots.

"That is the shot that he needs at Augusta National. He’s got to be able to sort of hold it off, trap it down, hit some cuts off hook lies, and not get that long left shot that has plagued him with a flare out to the right."

McIlroy is set to make his 17th appearance at the Masters, which will also be his 11th attempt at sealing the Grand Slam. The Northern Irishman has been on site twice already in the past couple of weeks as he hopes to improve on his best-ever finish of second back in 2022.