At the 88th Masters at the Augusta National, Rory McIlroy will be aiming to earn the green jacket that has been far from his reach throughout his decades-long career. And as the 2024 men’s first major approaches, McIlroy would not want some of the nightmares of the 2023 Masters to follow even this year.

Although McIlroy has not missed a cut yet at the PGA Tour, last year, the Masters was turning out to be one of the worst of experiences for the 4-time major champion. Perhaps the stars were not in the players favour last year.

Rory McIlroy’s misery in the 2023 Masters

4. Exiting the Augusta National earlier than expected: For the Northern Irishman, winning the Masters has become a distant dream. After getting a runner-up finish in 2022, Rory McIlroy was expected to dominate the 2023 Masters. However, things went haywire. In the opening round, the 4-time major winner, despite his five birdies, finished it at par.

Then came the worst of the two rounds. The cutline was 3 over and McIlroy tried to attain it. However, from the second hole, the 34-year-old made two consecutive bogeys. Then, he made two more in the front nine and two again at the back. McIlroy finished 5 over 149 and two strokes away from making the cut. A disappointing end to his Masters dream, indeed!

3. Awkward meeting with former partner: While the second round just started and he made a bogey on hole two, McIlroy had an awkward encounter with ex-girlfriend, Caroline Wozniacki. The Northern Irishman had broken up with the Tennis star before their scheduled wedding in 2014. What was worse was that McIlroy had told her over a phone call.

The two potentially didn’t see each other and moved on with their life. However, at the 2023 Masters, almost a decade after the breakup, the golfer encountered his former fiance as he made his way to the bogey putt. Even, McIlroy’s manager, Sean O’Flaherty was shocked to see both make eye contact after nearly a decade.

2. Constant rift with LIV Golf: At that time, while McIlroy’s game was not working at the Masters, maybe because his mind was preoccupied with something else entirely. In 2023, it had been a year since LIV golf debuted. Since then, the 34-year-old has been quite vocal about his disagreement with the league. He called it a “dead in the water” league.

McIlroy strongly opposed the very existence of LIV and even after the merger announcement said, “Like, I hate LIV. Like, I hope it goes away.” However, his stance has softened as time passed. McIlroy now doesn’t hate LIV and was regretful that he judged the LIV Golf too early. Though in 2023 it was something that may have hampered his Masters run as LIV golfers (he criticized many for jumping the ship) Brooks Koepka (T2) and Phil Mickelson (T2) played significantly better than McIlroy.

1. Paying a $3 million fine three weeks after Masters’s disappointment: After he met his ex and missed the cut, the Masters nightmare didn’t stop there. McIlroy, to recover from his underwhelming performance, wanted to take a break. And he did. However, that break cost him a whopping $3 million. In 2023, a PGA Tour pro was only allowed to miss one designated event (now signature events) and McIlroy had missed The Sentry in Hawaii.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by James Marsh/BPI/Shutterstock 10417149bd Rory Mcilroy of Northern Ireland looks dejected. BMW PGA, Golf Herren Championship, Day One, Wentworth Golf Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, UK – 19 Sep 2019 Editorial Use Only BMW PGA Championship, Day One, Wentworth Golf Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, UK – 19 Sep 2019 Editorial Use Only PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTXHUNxGRExMLTxCYPxROMxBULxUAExKSAxONLY Copyright: xJamesxMarsh/BPI/Shutterstockx 10417149bd

Per the rules, a 15% cut from the year-end PIP bonus was applied and he had to pay a fine for missing RBC Heritage. However, McIlroy insisted that he was aware of the consequences. Nevertheless, the $3 million was quite the blow!

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Perhaps 2023 was not his year at all. Having said that, it remains to be seen if he will he miss the cut second year in a row. Do you think McIlroy will make a comeback no one anticipated? Let us know in the comments below!

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