For As Much As It May Feel Like A Must-Win Masters For Rory McIlroy This Year, It Isn't

Rory McIlroy will be making his 16th start at the Masters this week in what will be his 10th attempt at winning the green jacket to complete the career grand slam. McIlroy's quest for a win at Augusta National has been the top pre-tournament storyline for a decade now and with every year that's passed, only more pressure has been added to his shoulders to get the job done.

Since the 2011 Masters, McIlroy's third appearance, the aura around McIlroy when he steps foot onto the Augusta National property have become palpable, only falling second to Tiger Woods' presence on the hollowed grounds.

READ: The Masters Storylines: Scheffler's Inevitability, McIlroy's Quest For The Slam And Koepka's Revenge

 (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

McIlroy held a four-shot lead with 18 holes to play in 2011 before imploding with a triple-bogey on the Par 4 10th en route to a final round 80 to finish in a tie for 15th. He stood on that 10th tee two hours away from what would have been his first major championship victory, blinked, and all of the sudden was off the first page of the leaderboard entirely.

Rory McIlroy Has A Painful History At Augusta

Thirteen years have past, but that nightmare still lives in infamy, making it feel like a do-or-die moment each time McIlroy pulls the club back at Augusta. Whether it be a routine chip shot on the fifth hole on Thursday, a missed fairway on nine on Saturday, or even a four-foot putt to save par on the first hole of the tournament, there isn't a player in the field who carries the same pressure McIlroy does for four straight days at the Masters.

After completing three-fourths of the career grand slam in 2014, pressure has turned into expectation for McIlroy to win the green jacket every April - and one November - for what is now 10 consecutive years. Not only is there an expectation for McIlroy to eventually complete the career grand slam, you add in the fact that he's an all-time great who hasn't won a major championship since 2014, and it has made each Masters to follow, including this year's edition, feel like a must-win endeavor.

The reality is that that's not the case, at all.

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The fact of the matter is that McIlroy is still only 34-years-old. Given how long he's been in and around the brightest spotlight in the sport and the number of battle scars he's picked up along the way, it's become incredibly easy to forget that he has a minimum of 10 insanely-competitive years ahead of him.

Right now it's easy to say that McIlroy's prime came from 2011 to 2015 when he won his four major championships and nine other titles, but there is plenty of reason to believe he could have a ‘second prime’ of his career that begins right around the corner.

Phil Mickelson was 34-years-old when he won his first green jacket in 2004 and went on to build one of the greatest careers in the history of the sport.

Whether or not 34 is McIlroy's lucky number or if he ever gets the Augusta-sized monkey off of his back at some point in his career, only time will tell. But the thought of this year's Masters being a must-win spot for McIlroy simply isn't true. He'll get to face the pressures of Augusta National many more times.