"There's an ageing curve, and it's real" — Can McIlroy strike again?
Rory McIlroy wins the Masters after a playoff with Justin Rose.
So what now for Rory McIlroy as he plays the fourth Major of his post-Grand Slam life and looks to the back nine of his career with the chance to clamber even higher up the Mount Olympus of golfing gods?
Will we get a repeat of the post-Augusta blues that saw him finish 47th in the PGA Championship, 19th in the US Open and seventh in The Open or more of the marauding monster that cast off that post-Masters malaise with an unforgettable Amgen Irish Open win at The K Club and went on to destroy the USA with a spectacular Ryder Cup performance in the face of outrageous provocation at Bethpage?
Whatever the answer, don't expect Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley to agree unanimously as they fill your TV screens with "Golf Central Live From The Masters" next week.
For the first time in recent memory, virtually every top contender arrives at Augusta National with a question mark next to their name.
Scheffler has finished outside the top 10 in his last three events — a "mini slump" by his high standards — while McIlroy's recent back injury has cast a small shadow of doubt over his form.
"Almost everybody entering this year's Masters has some question mark or caveat attached to their name," Chamblee said in a teleconference to promote the Golf Channel's Masters coverage.
"Nobody is the dominant favourite the way it was two years ago with Scottie, or even the way it was a year ago with Rory."
A two-week competitive layoff for nearly all the leading protagonists from McIlroy and Scheffler to LIV Golf stars Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau leaves us wondering about who is truly the form horse for the first Major of the season.
But when it comes to the long-term and what Rory will do next now that he's thrown the Masters monkey off his back, is an equally enticing question.
Is McIlroy getting better with age, or, whisper it, is the window quietly closing?
McGinley falls firmly in the optimist's camp while Chamblee is more circumspect.
"He's a more complete golfer now than he's ever been before," the Dubliner insisted. "The stats will show you that. He's got so many different elements to his game that he didn't have before, even when he was winning Majors in the early 2010s."
The Dubliner points to McIlroy's newly perfected stinger off the tee, his ability to move the ball left-to-right, his improved distance control with the wedges and a putting game that's the envy of many thanks to the genius of Brad Faxon.
"He's more equipped to win Major championships, in my view, than he's ever been before."
That said, there's always a "but" when it comes to golf and McIlroy has many hurdles to overcome as he looks to match Nick Faldo (and Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson) with six Major wins and edge closer to the greatest of the greats — Jack Nicklaus (18), Tiger Woods (15), Walter Hagen (11), Ben Hogan and Gary Player (9), Tom Watson (8), and seven-time Major champions Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead.
"The competition is stronger than it was when he was winning Majors the previous time," McGinley conceded. "I think that's a challenge. But the biggest challenge is a motivational one. Having completed the Grand Slam, it's a huge milestone in anybody's career.
"From a European perspective, Nick Faldo is still one Major ahead of him. And I'm sure he cannot unequivocally be called the greatest European player of all time until he passes Nick."
Motivation, McGinley insists, will not be a problem.
"I can assure you that he loves playing golf, he loves competing," added McGinley, who has spent considerable time recently with McIlroy at the TGL. "It's just a question of focus for Rory, like it always is – probably even more so now than ever."
Chamblee remains a McIlroy fan, but while he's impressed by his physical prowess– his ball speed has actually increased from 173 to the 184-185 mph range over the past decade – Father Time waits for no man.
"There's an ageing curve, and it's real; nobody escapes it," Chamblee said, pointing out that Nicklaus won 14 of his 18 Majors before turning 36. "Distractions multiply with age – business ventures, family, the weight of legacy."
McIlroy will celebrate his 37th birthday next month, but with many of his Masters ghosts now exorcised, it will be fascinating to see how he reacts next week and in the years to come.
Coming in cold might be an exaggeration, but one wonders how a two-week break will affect the Holywood star and his main rivals like Scheffler, Rahm, DeChambeau and Players Championship winner Young, to name just five of the top contenders.
"It's unbelievable how many guys are going cold into this Major championship compared to previous years," McGinley said. "The proof will be in the pudding. The guys who've played a little bit leading in – are they going to have an advantage? And the guys who are not – are they going to be slow coming out of the blocks?"
A fast start is not imperative at the Masters, but it helps.
"When you're as good as Scottie Scheffler or as good as Rory McIlroy, it's often one or two shots," he explained. "And those shots are not always gotten on the last nine holes on Sunday. Those shots can be gotten early in the tournament."
If not the big guns, then who?
McGinley sees the LIV Golf stars arriving with "pointy elbows" and a point to prove, but when it comes to a surprise package, he's looking at a left-hander from the west coast of Scotland, Bob MacIntyre.
"I think he's got the heart of a lion," McGinley said. "I think he loves the big moment. He's already had two top 10s in the Majors last year and a big finish in The Players this year. In fact, he nearly won The Players."
Notably, for McGinley, he stood up and delivered as the anchor man for Europe in the Ryder Cup singles at Bethpage.
"As a captain, you pick players for big moments, who've got big stomachs and big hearts, who can handle situations," he said. "Bob was right down the order at Bethpage. That's ominous. It shows what his peers think about him."
