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Rory McIlroy ‘Confident’ to Win Grand Slam Despite Falling Short at 2018 Masters

Rory McIlroy ‘Confident’ to Win Grand Slam Despite Falling Short at 2018 Masters image courtesy shutterstock
Rory McIlroy ‘Confident’ to Win Grand Slam Despite Falling Short at 2018 Masters image courtesy shutterstock

Key player Rory McIlroy is ‘confident’ that he will win the Masters championship next year and complete a career grand slam, despite missing out on winning the coveted 2018 Masters green jacket and trophy this Sunday.

This year’s 2018 Masters winner, Patrick Reed, finished the game with an impressive -15 points, just one shot ahead of Rickie Fowler. McIlroy entered the final just three shots behind Reed, but—notwithstanding momentous efforts on his behalf—his game was erratic, dampening his confidence and pushing him back six shots. The 28-year-old finished at joint fifth with -9 points alongside Chris Smith, Bubba Watson and Henrik Stenson.

This was Patrick Reed’s first major victory—he failed any tournament since The Barclays in New York in August 2016.

The game took place at world-renowned Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia—a familiar course for McIlroy, who had initially expected a winning outcome.

Not meant to be

The Irish-born golfer said, “I played probably some of the best golf I’ve ever played here, it just wasn’t meant to be.”

He added, “For the last four years I’ve had top 10s but I haven’t been close enough to the lead. Today I got myself there, I didn’t quite do enough but I’ll still come back next year and try again. I’m 100 percent sure I can come back and win here.

“I’ve played in two final groups in the last seven years, I’ve had five top 10s, I play this golf course well. I just haven’t played it well enough at the right times.”

The 2018 Masters game put Reed and the Northern Irishman toe-to-toe for the first time since the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine. The close 2016 game saw McIlroy defeated while Reed, then 25 years old, took the lead and won.

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