MISSION COMPLETE?

Bill Elliott reflects on the edge-of-the seat drama that Rory Mcllroy delivered last year, and wonders how much more there might be to come after the realisation of a childhood dream

- 

Has there ever been a more emotional, conflicted and occasionally properly daft Masters than a year ago? No, there most definitely has not. So, having achieved his Career Grand Slam, what is left for Rory Mcllroy to do? Anything apart from having some fun while playing golf?

Yes, there most definitely is something. For a start, he could win the flipping thing again. This, however, is obviously much easier to write than it is to do. He said shortly after at last triumphing a year ago that “The Masters is the most watched golf tournament in the world” and he is correct.

Of course, golf fans watch it and love it, but so too do those who actually do not watch anything else that involves men walking around a big field while hitting a ball and even having another man or woman carrying their clubs.

Like Wimbledon, Royal Ascot or the Grand National, Augusta National in April is a magnet for countless millions across the world. Years ago, it became one of those things that draws people in. It's less significant, technically, than The Open, which you could argue it outperforms almost every year. Why? Because the sun usually shines in Georgia, everyone feels they know the course and it's a link to better times.

Wee Rory - I can call him this as I'm half an inch taller - has now played 17 Masters, won once, missed the cut on three occasions and finished in the top ten eight times. This is not bad, but it is not fabulous. As I write, he has played five times this season. He finished T14th at the Australian Open, T3rd in the Dubai Invitational, T33rd in the Dubai Desert Classic, T14th at Pebble Beach and then T2nd at Riviera. This may well appear a bit of a mixed bag, but then what did those events mean to Europe's first Career Grand Slammer? I suspect not a lot.