Tiger Woods insists “it’s just a matter of when” Rory McIlroy wins the Masters and completes the career grand slam.
Despite his wait for a fifth major now stretching to 10 years, McIlroy is again one of the favourites this week at Augusta, where he famously blew the lead in 2011 and has finished in the top 10 on seven occasions since.
“No question, he’ll do it at some point,” Woods said. “Rory’s too talented, too good. He’s going to be playing this event for a very long time. He’ll get it done. It’s just a matter of when.
“I think that Rory will be a great Masters champion one day and it could be this week. The way he plays the game and the golf course fits his eye, it’s just a matter of time.”
McIlroy said he was flattered by 15-time major winner Woods’s prediction, which came on Tuesday, two days before the tournament tees off.
“It’s nice to hear, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game say something like that,” the Northern Irishman said.
“Does that mean it’s going to happen? Obviously not, but he’s been around the game long enough to know I at least have the potential to do it.
“I know I’ve got the potential to do it too – it’s not as if I haven’t been a pretty good player for the last couple of decades – but it’s nice to hear it when it comes out of his mouth.”
McIlroy has been grouped with world No1 Scottie Scheffler and No5 Xander Schauffele for the first two rounds of the Masters.
Other notable groupings include Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa with Tommy Fleetwood, and Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris and Justin Thomas.