McIlroy: Can he shine on debut?
I'm just going to treat it as a normal event. I'll try not to be too overawed by the occasion or the place. If I play the way I can then hopefully I can have a good finish.
Rory Mcllroy
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It is no wonder really that Rory McIlroy has wanted to play The Masters ever since he became aware of it.
The first Augusta tournament he remembers was the 1996 one in which Greg Norman's collapse and Nick Faldo's charge made for some of the most riveting action golf has ever produced.
Twelve months later, McIlroy was simply glued to his television as his hero Tiger Woods, in the first major he played as a professional, stormed to a record 12-shot win.
For decades to come those two Masters will always be recalled - and now, at the tender age of 19, McIlroy is about to become part of the tournament's history as well.
Climbing into the world's top 50 by the end of last year to guarantee himself an invitation was a feat in itself, but it is the way he started this year that has really thrust the Northern Ireland youngster into the limelight.
Winning his first European Tour title against a star-studded field in Dubai catapulted him into the game's top 20 and it came with a comment from former Masters and Open champion Mark O'Meara that his ball-striking was ahead of Woods at the same age.
Such praise heaps expectations on McIlroy's shoulders, but he appears to have taken it in his stride and at Augusta National he knows he is in the perfect "nothing to lose, everything to gain" position.
Overawed
"I'm just going to treat it as a normal event," McIlroy said, fully aware that come the week that is far easier said than done.
"I'll try not to be too overawed by the occasion or the place. If I play the way I can then hopefully I can have a good finish. I've got to go there expecting to play well."
Being paired with O'Meara in Dubai could result in a real bonus at the start of Masters week as the American told him he would try to arrange a practice round with Woods.
McIlroy, who so admires the 14-major winner for "the way he plays with no fear", has already shown that majors do not scare him.
Winning the European amateur title when he was 17 earned him a place in the 2007 Open at Carnoustie and his opening 68 not only put him in third place, but it was also the only bogey-free round of the day.
He finished 42nd and as the only amateur to survive the halfway cut collected the silver medal in a prize-giving ceremony where top of the bill, of course, was his fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington.
Despite earning his Tour card in just his second start - he was third at the Dunhill Links event - McIlroy failed to make it into any of the majors last season.
This year will be different. He should be in all four.
Only in The Masters will he still be a teenager, but amazingly he is only the third-youngest player in the field.
New Zealander Danny Lee, 18, qualified as the youngest-ever US Amateur champion, while 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa, Japan's new star, received a special invitation and becomes the second-youngest participant in Masters history.
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