With every year that passes by, it seems less and less likely that Rory McIlroy will complete the coveted career grand slam. The Northern Irishman is only missing a Masters green jacket as far as major championship victories are concerned, but so far McIlroy has been unable to produce his best form when push comes to shove at Augusta.

As April rolls around once again, there will be plenty of golf fans pondering whether this could finally be McIlroy’s time to shine at the Masters. As the Masters golf tips are written and examined, we’ve had a look at a few reasons why McIlroy has been unable to get his hands on that elusive green jacket.

Weight of expectation

To watch McIlroy at the Masters in recent years, or any major championship for that matter, is to see a man who appears weight down by the expectations placed on his shoulders. When he burst onto the scene more than a decade ago, scooping four major titles in the space of four seasons, it looked as though the Northern Irishman was going to dominate golf for years to come. However, he has been unable to get his hands on one of golf’s biggest prizes since 2014.

With every major that passes by, it seems less and less likely that McIlroy will ever find that winning formula once again. This is even truer at the Masters, where the pressure is all the more intense due to the tantalising prospect of becoming just the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.

Competitive field

Of course, winning any golf tournament is incredibly difficult, let alone a major. One of golf’s unique aspects is that you can’t do anything to directly influence the performance of your opponents. If someone scores lower than you over the four rounds of action, they will walk away with the trophy.

There are so many players capable of winning major championships that McIlroy has found it hard to stand head and shoulders above the rest. At the Masters, he has recorded numerous top-10 finishes, but he’s never been able to take the final step and finish at the top of the pile.

This year, there will be so many players tipped to do well, and McIlroy will need to raise his game to unprecedented levels if he is going to get the better of all of them.

Waning powers?

There is also the possibility that McIlroy is no longer the same player that won all those majors in such a short period of time. Or rather, the standard now is so high that there are other top players capable of getting the better of him more often than not.

Whether that is true or not, there will surely come a Masters tournament where McIlroy hits peak form at just the right time. At the age of 32, he still has plenty of time to put the seal on his career grand slam, and who’s to say it won’t be this year that we see him turn on the style among the azaleas at Augusta National.