After enjoying the final round of The Masters last night, my colleagues and I were very keen this morning to jump on our usual start of week calls and discuss our opinions on Rory McIlroy's historic Green Jacket defence at Augusta National.
While widely impressed with McIlroy's resilience and ability to hit incredible golf shots under the most intense pressure, we also heavily debated Rory's struggles in finding fairways over the course of the week - and whether there was enough jeopardy in the course set-up to allow him to emerge victorious in spite of his off the tee troubles.
Features editor, Nick Bonfield, shared an opinion that erred on the side of scepticism - questioning whether you should be able to win a Major when driving the golf ball that erratically.
I, on the other hand, felt that Rory used every piece of creativity, course knowledge and skill on and around the greens to limit the damage of dodgy drives - an approach that I found immensley exciting and very impressive...
I Loved McIlroy's Swashbuckling Approach At Augusta National
The point that Nick was trying to make is that the course set-up at Augusta National should perhaps ask more questions of players who are inaccurate off the tee.
He makes a valid point, as often finding the trees at Augusta will still leave you with a route out - with a lack of 'rough' or hazards to really penalise poor tee shots.
While I, like many others, would hate to see the aesthetic or make up of Augusta National changed, as I believe it's pretty perfect as it is, I can appreciate the fact that a Major Championship should test every facet of your game.
That didn't seem to be the case this year, as McIlroy opened almost dead last over the first two days for driving accuracy while still posting a record-breaking 12-under-par halfway score.
His ability to find fairways did improve over the weekend, with his most consistent performance coming on Sunday when it really counted, yet he still finished the week ranking 52nd out of the 54 players to make the cut.
The challenge at The Masters is very different to a US Open style test, and rightly so as each Major has its own identity, but you could confidently say that McIlroy would have struggled to win (or even contend) with that sort of performance at 2026 US Open venue Shinnecock Hills later this year.
I must say, I found the whole thing incredibly gripping. I love that he can take on bunkers, cut corners and give himself opportunities to score well - but with that comes an inevitable tendency to bring trouble into play.
Rather than focusing on how wild he was off the tee, I like instead to appreciate how amazing he was with the rest of his game. He needed to be near-perfect around the green to scramble himself out of some tough positions - and he was (ranking 2nd).
He actually ranked 7th for the week for SG: Off The Tee, highlighting how important his length was in offsetting the misses, but his nouse and experience also helped him to know not only where to miss, but how to navigate his way back on track from those points.
Some of the most iconic shots at Augusta National have come from the trees. If you think about the iconic moments from Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson or even Rory himself - when out of position on the 7th last year and finding the green through a tight gap.
There is also more than one way to contend at The Masters, evidenced by Cameron Young finishing tied-3rd while ranking 2nd for driving accuracy.
In truth, a more balanced approach is probably the right play for most - but not McIlroy.
Four of the top-6 were above the field average for both distance and accuracy off the tee, but when you have a trump card like Rory - you have to use it and accept your fate.
Drastic measures like adding longer rough or changing the landscape around the trees would negatively impact the beautiful and iconic majesty of those pine-straw ladened Georgia pines - in my opinion.
I'm strongly against adding more penal features, like shubbery or other deterrents, as I believe The Masters is a tournament that allows you to be brave if you can back it up with creativity and resilience.
McIlroy did both of those things, and was certainly brave, so I personally don't have any issue whatsoever with him ranking so poorly in the driving accuracy category.
There is, after all, plenty of time for particularly penal tests like the one coming up at Shinnecock Hills.
