McIlroy on winning the Masters: 'It'll happen'

Nearly two weeks after letting a shot at a green jacket slip through his grasp, Rory McIlroy remains confident that he’ll still someday find a way to capture what for him has become golf’s most elusive prize.

McIlroy had a spot alongside Patrick Reed in the final pairing at the Masters, and he insisted that all the pressure was on his counterpart who was seeking his first career major title. But from his first wobbly tee shot, it was clear that McIlroy was feeling plenty of heat himself as he looked to round out the final leg of the career Grand Slam on a course where he has come up barely short a number of times in recent years.

McIlroy started the day three shots behind Reed, but he never challenged once the pair hit the second nine as Reed beat Rickie Fowler by a shot while McIlroy fell into a tie for fifth, six shots off the pace.

“I got onto that first tee, and I was quite nervous. Even though I was three behind, I still felt like there was a little bit of pressure there for some reason,” McIlroy told CNN’s Shane O’Donoghue. “I just couldn’t get into my rhythm like I could the first three days.”

Given time to reflect, McIlroy has adopted a positive outlook on his week in Augusta: another chance to contend on a major stage, another sign that his game is, for the most part, where he wants it to be heading into a busy summer stretch.

For McIlroy, the disappointment was not in failing to win major No. 5, it was in his inability to make Reed work for it during the early stages of their round together as McIlroy failed to mount much of a challenge after missing a 4-foot eagle putt on the second hole that would have given him a share of the lead.

“I was just disappointed that again I didn’t put any pressure on the leader. I guess that was my thing,” McIlroy said. “If I had just put a little pressure on, it might have been a different outcome.”

Instead, McIlroy left with a respectable yet unsatisfying result from the season’s first major for the fifth year in a row. Left to wait another 11 months before his next crack at a green jacket, his belief is unwavering that he’ll one day join Reed among the tournament’s decorated list of champions.

“Look, it’ll happen. I truly believe it’ll happen,” McIlroy said. “I play that golf course well enough. I’ve five top-10s in a row, I’ve given myself a chance. It didn’t quite work out. But just, the more I keep putting myself in those positions, sooner or later it’s going to happen for me.”