Chasing the illustrious career grand slam, Rory McIlroy is preparing for the 2015 Masters at Augusta National. According to his Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley, having a familiar face present at the tournament will do wonders to alleviate the pressure surrounding him.
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That face belongs to Tiger Woods.
"Look what happened at the U.S. PGA last year," McGinley said (via Sky Sports). "All the talk was, 'Is Tiger going to play, is he not going to play? At the time Rory was favorite, but all the expectation, all the talk, all you guys [the media] were focused on was Tiger. Rory didn't sneak in the back door, but he was able to go about his business without the attention on him."
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"I do hope Tiger comes back. We all hope Tiger comes back. I don't know if he will or not. We'll have to wait and see."
Woods hasn't featured on the tour since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open due to a chronic back injury. For McGinley, however, there's something greater keeping the former world No. 1 from the course.
"When you see a guy who was as great with the chipping as Tiger was, is he going to come back from it? We really don't know," McGinley added. My hunch would be there's something bigger going on."
"There's no doubt Tiger has peaked in terms of when guys normally play their best golf. That doesn't mean he's finished, but certainly he is in the back nine of his career."
The 2015 Masters will be held at Augusta National from Apr. 9-12.
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