Rory McIlroy is one of golf’s most celebrated and decorated stars and has won almost every event and individual accolade available. But the Northern Irishman has always remained just one win shy of the modern career grand slam – a win at all four majors.

Only five players in history can say they have won the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship: Tiger Woods, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Gary Player.

Sadly for McIlroy he remains one result shy, despite a coming close at Augusta National on many occasions. A win at The Masters has always been the one that got away, and McIlroy believes that there may be a psychological reason he keeps missing out on the prestigious tournament.

Speaking on a recent episode of GOLF’s Subpar, the 24-time PGA Tour winner said: “I think sometimes because it’s the one I haven’t won, the only thing I think about that week is winning it. And that’s not the way to approach a golf tournament.”

It’s certainly not through a lack of trying that McIlroy has missed out on the famous green jacket. The 34-year-old has come within touching distance numerous times, claiming seven top 10 finishes at Magnolia Lane.

The most disappointing defeat at The Masters came back in 2011 when he led, or shared the lead following each of the first three rounds. However, after pulling his tee shot out of bounds on No. 10 McIlroy failed to recover and saw Charl Schwartzel overtake him and eventually win the tournament.

The Northern Irishman’s disappointing back nine saw him end the tournament tied in 15th place.

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“I think sometimes at Augusta I’m too much of a leaderboard-watcher too early,” McIlroy went on to admit. “So for example this year, Brooks [Koepka] got off to that really hot start, and he was on the 8th green on Friday morning, and I was on the 1st green.

“And I think I was even par for the tournament, and I think Brooks had just birdied the 8th to go to 10 under for the tournament, so I’m already 10 shots back and I already feel like I need to chase and I need to do something.”

“I probably get in my head a little too much around there at times,” McIlroy added. “But there have been other times where I’ve handled it ok and I’ve had good results.”

McIlroy is next in action at this year’s Ryder Cup which starts on Sept. 25 at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.

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