Rory McIlroy: Can Patrick Reed stop the march to the grand slam?

Rory McIlroy is on the doorstep of history at the Masters. If he can overcome Patrick Reed on Sunday, the career grand slam will finally be his. It will be a showdown for the ages between two fiery competitors.

If anyone stops Rory McIlroy’s career grand slam attempt at this Masters Tournament, it will probably be Patrick Reed.

Reed’s challenge is to overcome the idea of winning a major, which has the weight of history.

McIlroy has to overcome Reed, plus the thought of winning the career grand slam, which is a heavier weight than just history. He would be only the sixth person in history to do it. He just has to plow through Reed to get it done.

Reed seems impossibly tough to beat. At Augusta National, he has pushed aside Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Henrik Stenson and Rickie Fowler. For any of them to win, they would have to shoot a very low number and have both Reed and McIlroy and all the others on that list fall precipitously down the leaderboard. It’s likely to be Mano-a-mano, McIlroy v. Reed, no matter what they say.

"“I think the biggest thing is just going out and playing golf. You know, trying to not allow the moment to take over me,” Reed said to media after round three. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball well enough, I feel like I’m putting well enough, that I just need to go out and play the game and not worry about everything else and just play golf.”"

That is going to be hard to do. It’s guaranteed that at some point in the round, history will get to him, no matter how hard he tries to ignore it. He will think about having that green jacket in the closet, and that’s when trouble starts. Or he will be challenged by McIlroy shooting low and then tighten up and lose the swing he has had all week. Whether it happens at the first hole or the 8^th or the 11^th or the 14^th. It will happen.

Rory McIlroy has nothing to lose on Sunday at the Masters

McIlroy, on the other hand, has nothing to lose and a place in history to gain. He lost a chance at a green jacket in 2011. He was in the lead on the 10^th tee on Sunday and famously duck hooked his tee shot into an area left of the tee that nobody had ever seen. He’s already been embarrassed.

"“I don’t have to protect anything. I can go out and sort of free‑wheel like I did today, which is a great position to be in,” he said to media. “I wish I was a little closer to the lead or leading, but I’m in the final group, and I’ve shot 65 on moving day at the Masters. It’s all I can ask for.”"

The difference is just three shots. Can McIlroy do it? Yes, he can, and here’s why.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Students of the Masters know that there have been leads larger than three strokes lost on Sunday.

In 1996, Greg Norman was six strokes ahead of Nick Faldo at the beginning of the final round. By the end of eight holes, the Norman’s lead was just three, and by the time they went through Amen Corner, Faldo was ahead and went onto win his third green jacket. That’s the largest loss by a leader at the Masters.

In 1979, Ed Sneed was five ahead but he faltered, and Fuzzy Zoeller won.

McIlroy was four shots ahead on the 10^th tee in 2011, but he made mistake after mistake during the last nine holes. Meanwhile, Charl Schwartzel birdied the last four holes and earned a green jacket. So, anything can happen, and as McIlroy said, he has personal experience with it.

Will Rory’s logic overcome Reed’s unbridled emotion?

Reed is looking to find his Ryder Cup form where, according to comments on Golf Channel, his teammates started calling him “Next Level,” because he would find another gear in the matches than he had in regular tournaments.

“I almost feel like I can kick it into another gear and go even deeper,” Reed said after the third round. “It’s just kind of one of those things that I’ve been working on it and trying to tap into Ryder Cups more and more and try to play some solid golf.”

Counter that with McIlroy’s post-round comments.

"“I’ve kept saying all week, my game’s right there. I don’t feel there’s any shot on the golf course that I can’t execute,” he said. “I feel like all aspects of my game are in really good shape, and I’m much more relaxed. This isn’t my first time in this position now. I’ve been able to close the deal a few times before this, and I have that to fall back on tomorrow.”"

One is running on emotion and the other is relying on his experience and his form. How far can emotion carry Reed? Will he have it another 18 holes or will exhaustion overtake him?

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They will both be nervous, but McIlroy will be more prepared with what that does to his game and his thought process. McIlroy has hit more drives into fairways in majors, he’s made more putts in his career to win big events and majors than Reed has. Even better for McIlroy, and worse for Reed, is that McIlroy rediscovered his putting stroke.

Really, the outcome depends on how McIlroy plays and how Reed reacts to it.

If McIlroy pushes Reed, can Reed answer and hold his ground? McIlroy has shown that he can power forward and defeat people with good last rounds on the biggest stages. We know Reed can do that in regular events. But we don’t know if he can do it at a major.

As McIlroy said, “I’ve got a lot of experience in these positions and experience that I’ve learned from, good and bad, and I feel like all of those experiences will help me tomorrow.”

Next: Patrick Reed keeps pace on torrid Masters moving day

The only thing we know for sure is it will be a battle. Two men are trying to accomplish extraordinary things. Reed is hoping to secure a place in golf history by winning his first major. Rory McIlroy is hoping to win the career grand slam and cement his place in golf history as one of the best players ever.

It’s golf’s version of tug-of-war. They are in each other’s way. One of them will give out by the end of the afternoon, and experience is on McIlroy’s side.

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