The Masters 2026: Why Rory McIlroy can 'enjoy every minute' of title defence without extra pressure at Augusta National
Rory McIlroy returns as defending champion at The Masters, a year on from completing the career Grand Slam; Butch Harmon reflects on McIlroy's 2025 success, the pressure McIlroy may face and what he is looking forward to at Augusta National
Wednesday 1 April 2026 17:46, UK
Butch Harmon believes Rory McIlroy will enjoy every minute of his title defence at The Masters and insists there is no extra pressure on him to replicate last year's "spectacular" win at Augusta National.
McIlroy returns to The Masters for the first time since completing the career Grand Slam, having ended an 11-year wait for an elusive fifth major title by claiming a dramatic play-off win over Justin Rose last April.
An emotional victory ended a run of 21 top-10 finishes for McIlroy in majors - and a string of near-misses - since his 2014 PGA Championship success, with the world No 2 becoming just the sixth male in history to complete the career Grand Slam.
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McIlroy can now join Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only players to successfully defend The Masters title, live from Thursday on Sky Sports Golf, although Harmon believes the Northern Irishman will not be worried about completing another exclusive golfing milestone.
"Normally, I would say, yes, there would be more pressure on him with a chance to defend his title," Harmon said in a media call ahead of working as part of Sky Sports' commentary team at The Masters.
"I think because he won last year and got that off his back, that he now has the Green Jacket, I don't think he's going to be as uptight as most people would think he was going to be.
"I think we're going to see a more relaxed Rory there this year. His game is starting to trend in a good direction. He reminds me of Tiger at that golf course. He has the ability - the way he drives the ball - to take over the golf course.
"I think we're going to see a Rory that doesn't need to put the pressure on himself that he had been to try and win this thing and get to the Grand Slam, so I think it's going to be to his advantage. I think he'll be relaxed and be able to play to the best of his ability."
McIlroy came through a final-round tussle with Bryson DeChambeau during last year's success, where he blew a commanding lead on the back nine - just as he had in the 2011 contest - before overcoming Rose with a birdie on the first extra play-off hole.
"I think it [McIlroy's win] was spectacular," Harmon added. "Because of what it was, because how long it had been since Rory had won to get the career Grand Slam and everything, the pressure that was on him.
"I know from doing the commentary at Sky that even I was nervous, and I'm usually not nervous doing commentary, just because I had no idea what was going to happen. Being a big Rory fan, I was just hoping he would pull it off and it turned out to be something special."
McIlroy's memorable win after back-nine drama
The former world No 1 had command of the tournament until an explicable double-bogey at the par-five 13th, with a dropped shot at the next seeing Rose move ahead after the Englishman's birdie burst.
McIlroy produced a contender for shot of his career with a stunning approach from the pines at the par-five 15th, setting up a two-putt birdie, then cancelled out a birdie at the 17th with a bogey at the last before his play-off win.
"I was very surprised with a pitch shot on 13 to be honest with you, when you've got a slope 30 feet left of the hole that'll bring the ball down to the flag," Harmon explained. "I think he just lost his concentration or something there, which I thought was unusual for Rory.
"The fact that he went to lay-up too was also a little unusual, considering how aggressive he is. Then he righted the ship with just a phenomenal shot to 17. That back pin is so hard to get to - there's a big downslope there and the ball goes away, so I thought that was great.
"It was not as bad a wedge shot on the last hole as I think people gave him credit for, because of the fact that he was aiming more towards the middle of the green - not at the flag - because he had the lead.
"He just pushed it a little and then didn't get up and down. Then we go to the play-off, where he almost has the exact same shot, and he knocks it in there stiff and wins the tournament. Now he can walk around in his Green Jacket all day long and he's going to love every minute of it."
Augusta offers 'holy grail of golf' after 'disgusting' Ryder Cup
The Masters is the first major since September's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, where Team Europe overcame a hostile atmosphere from the New York crowd to claim a famous win on away soil.
"I thought the Ryder Cup was disgusting," Harmon added. "It was embarrassing being an American. I just didn't feel I wanted to be part of it. I'm disgusted with the way it was.
"This is the beauty of Augusta - this is the best-behaved patrons in all of golf. I love the Open Championship because all the gallery people understand golf and they understand how to cheer.
"At this place, it's like a holy grail of golf in the United States. it's difficult to get a ticket to come to this event. It's probably the hardest event to get a ticket to and the patrons there are very well behaved, because they're the same people that come back year after year.
"I hated the way things were going at the Ryder Cup. I thought it was a terrible embarrassment for the United States and let's hope it never happens again."
McIlroy played a key role in Europe's Ryder Cup success, winning 3.5 points after top-scoring in Rome two years earlier, with Harmon expecting him and Scottie Scheffler to challenge for victory at The Masters this week.
"I think the obvious ones are Rory and Scheffler, because they're the number one and two players in the world," Harmon predicted. "He [McIlroy] had 11 years between winning majors and last year he pulled it off in a phenomenal fashion.
"He [Scheffler] seems to be a little frustrated on the course every now and then, which is a side of him we didn't see. But he's still Scheffler and he's a phenomenal competitor. Whether he has his A game, his B game, his C game, it doesn't matter, he gives you 110 per cent.
"He has won there before, he knows how to win around there and he's the number one player in the world. I think if you're looking for the automatic favourites, it is probably going to be Rory and Scottie, so we'll just have to see what happens."
Who will win The Masters? Watch the opening major of the year exclusively live from April 9-12 on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the first round begins on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
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