Padraig Harrington makes BOLD Rory McIlroy Masters prediction
Now that he's won back-to-back Masters titles, Padraig Harrington says Rory McIlroy has the ability to do special things at Augusta National. Getty Images For 38 consecutive major starts that spanned a decade, Rory McIlroy didn’t win a major. Now, after his back-to-back Masters titles , he has won two in his past five starts.
So, what’s next? Another Irish star is predicting big things. “Rory could win 10 of them at this stage, or five of them, anyway,” said Padraig Harrington, speaking at Concession Golf Club in Florida on Tuesday ahead of this week’s Senior PGA Championship.
“He probably will still be competitive at 50 years of age around that golf course. For him, it was interesting that he won that one with his short game, which makes him even better a player. “He’s always been a superb chipper, but now it’s with the putting and things like that,” he continued.
“A very rounded game and a game that looks like it has a lot of longevity in it. So he’s in a very nice place going forward, particularly at that tournament that you would think. It’s amazing when you win one, that he’s now got two, and we’re thinking that maybe two or three or five would be realistic around that golf course.
” Harrington’s point that McIlroy, who turns 37 next month, could compete at Augusta National past his prime isn’t crazy. Jack Nicklaus famously won at Augusta National at age 46 in 1986. Tiger Woods was 43 when he won in 2019.