Golf analyst says Rory McIlroy plays "his worst golf" at Augusta ahead of the 2025 Masters
The 2025 Masters Tournament is set to kick off on April 10 and PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy is gearing up to compete in the event. Ahead of the tournament, popular golf analyst Brandel Chamblee discussed McIlroy, pointing out that he tends to play “his worst golf” at the Masters.
Rory McIlroy turned pro in 2007 and has a total of 43 professional wins. He has won 28 events on the PGA Tour and 18 on the European Tour. He has also won the Wells Fargo Championship four times and the Players Championship twice. His most recent victory on the PGA Tour was the 2025 Players Championship, where he won with a score of 12-under after a playoff against J.J. Spaun.
Despite McIlroy’s stellar record, he is yet to secure a win at the Masters Tournament, but has claimed the title at least once in the three other Major Championship events. In an NBC conference call, golf analysts Brandel Chamblee, Rich Lerner, and Paul McGinley discussed McIlroy’s chances at securing a career grand slam this year.
Chamblee made a reference to the popular movie The Devil Wears Prada, saying that the Masters Tournament is McIlroy’s nemesis.
“To continue this Devil Wears Prada theme going a little bit further, I would say that Augusta National is the Miranda Priestly to Rory McIlroy's Andrea Sachs. It is literally his nemesis. It brings out the worst golf in Rory annually that we see,” Chamblee said. (Via Golf Digest)
“It was his worst golf last year in the majors, his worst the year before, two years before that it was his worst golf. He annually underperforms there. He hits on average about 42 greens. On average, the winner hits about 52. There are things about that golf course that have been very problematic for him,” the golf commentator added.
However, Chamblee further added that the 28-time PGA Tour winner has never been in better shape, and this is the best time for him to win the event.
“There has never been a better week for him to win the Masters, never," Chamblee added. "And look, we keep saying he’s got plenty of time, and he does, he’s 35. This is a golf course that bows a little bit to age and experience, and from a power standpoint, he’s never been more powerful, metaphorically and literally,” the golf analyst said.
McIlroy will compete in the 2025 Masters against other top golfers such as defending champion Scottie Scheffler and six-time Major Championship winner Phil Mickelson.
A look at Rory McIlroy’s performance in the Texas Children’s Houston Open
Rory McIlroy competed in the 2025 Texas Children’s Houston Open, where he finished at T5. He carded a 70 in the first round of the tournament after making two birdies and two bogeys. On day two, he made five birdies and a single bogey on hole seven, finishing with a 66 at the end of the day, and making the cut into the third round.
In a bogey-free third-round, the Northern Irish golfer made an eagle on hole eight and three birdies to card a 65. He followed that up with a final-round of six birdies, two bogeys, and one eagle, which landed him in T5 at the end of the day, with 15-under.
Notably, Australian professional golfer Min Woo Lee won the event with 20-under, five strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy.