US Masters / Bill Elliott / 04 April 2010 /

Bill Elliott tells us why after meeting the great Jack Nicklaus, young Rory McIlroy will be in better shape to tackle Augusta this year, a course where his game should see him come good one year and allow him to don the famous Green Jacket.

Is it too early for Rory McIlroy to win a Masters? Almost certainly. Would it be foolish to overlook him when considering the eventual champion? Absolutely.

So, to sum up, what we know about the Belfast wunderkind is that he is exquisitely gifted when it comes to the old game, that he makes shedloads of dosh, that he, to this point, doesn't close the big deal enough and that his aggressive game appears well-suited to Augusta after finishing tied for 20th spot on his debut last year.

What we also know - or should - is that he is capable of outrageous acts of brilliant play and that one day, surely, he will win one of these things. At 20 years of age this one may be beyond him but then again...

After spending three days practising at Augusta recently he reported himself well pleased..."It's so exciting, " he said in that beguilingly boyish way he happily retains. "I loved playing there last year and I just feel very lucky to be able to go back again this time."

But is he too often too aggressive to ultimately prosper on a course where even the smallest mistake can be relatively catastrophic? He hopes not.

"My aggression as a golfer just comes naturally, " he points out. "It depends, I think, on what kind of mind you have. If you have a more analytical mind (than me) then I think you'll probably play a little more conservative and think the strategy out a bit more but if you try to keep it simple then you're probably one of the guys who will hit with the driver more and so have a more aggressive approach. I am what I am."

What he also is, is smart. Smart enough to take up the opportunity a week or so ago to have lunch with Jack Nicklaus at the great man's Muirfield Club in Ohio. The idea was not just to digest some decent food but to plug into the most strategic brain ever to grace the game. He thinks it worked.

"It was an unbelievable experience. He sort of got in touch with us after he heard that I was going to work with Bob Rotella (sports psychiatrist sort of chap) on the mental side of things. I went to Bob because I want to be a bit more clinical about things, to finish off the job better. Jack, of course, was probably the most clinical of them all.

"Sitting down and talking to him about his approach to winning and what went through his head when he was in contention was probably the best 90 minutes I've spent in a very long time. One of the biggest things I took away with me was that he said the best golf he ever played was at The Open at Turnberry in 1977 but that he didn't win (Tom Watson, of course, did) but he also said that he won several times when not playing his best golf.

"So he stressed patience and that it was so important to just believe in yourself while biding your time."

Biding his time when the world appears to be sitting meekly at his feet is, naturally, hard for one as ambitious as McIlroy. His decision to decamp to America for much of this year flew in the face of advice from his management company and beyond but though it was daredevil, it also showed an underlying self-belief that helps bolster his claims to potential greatness.

If a bravura attitude helps a man scale the biggest peaks then this kid has it in spades. "Do I have the game for Augusta? Yes, I do. I found that out last year and I know that I return this time a more experienced and therefore better player. Mind you, I also know now that if you're off your game the tiniest bit then Augusta can make you look very silly very quickly. You really do need to be completely on it to do well there. Hopefully, I will be."

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