RORY MCILROY must be crisp with his irons if he is going to end his Masters hoodoo, according to Paul McGinley.

A green jacket is the only major missing from the Northern Irishman’s trophy cabinet.

Rory McIlroy has been told he can win the 2025 MastersCredit: AP

The Northern Irishman must play well with his ironsCredit: AP

McIlroy famously collapsed during the last round of the 2011 MastersCredit: Getty

McIlroy wants to join Tiger Woods and four other men in completing the career Grand SlamCredit: Getty

His final-round collapse in 2011 and second-placed finish in 2022 are among his near misses at Augusta.

McGinley, though, reckons McIlroy could get over the line this time and write his name in golf history alongside Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen by completing the career Grand Slam.

But the 35-year-old will only do so if he can match the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa with his iron play this week.

McGinley, 58, told SunSport: “To win anywhere, particularly around Augusta, you need the golfing gods shining on you at the right time.

“The line between winning and losing is really enhanced because one roll of a ball can mean a double or triple bogey. Or you can get away with it.

“You do need a little bit of luck no matter how well you’re playing. But I do expect Scottie Scheffer in particular to be tough to beat.

“Morikawa is going in with a lot of form too. A golf course that will suit his really good arm play.

“It’s a second-shot golf course. Statistics have shown over the years, certainly in the last ten years, that the best iron player is generally the guy that has the best chance of winning.

“It’s not the strength of Rory’s game at the moment, although it wasn’t too bad last year. But it is the strength of Scheffler’s game and it is the strength of Morikawa’s game.

“Everybody thinks it’s about the putting. But the greens have got so many sections in them.

“If you are a brilliant iron player and control your distance and how straight you hit it, then you can hit it into the right section and that makes putting easy.

“Whereas if you miss that section in the green, you’re putting over a big mound or you’re putting so much downhill. So the real performance indicator around Augusta is iron play.”

But while McIlroy will need to deliver with the irons in hand, he heads to Augusta with two wins on American soil under his belt before April for the first time in a season.

And he has done so without finding his best golf, especially when he won The Players at TPC Sawgrass last month.

Asked directly if McIlroy can win the 2025 Masters, McGinley, whose best result at Augusta was a T18 in 2002, added: “He can.

“The biggest challenges for him every time he comes to a Masters are a) he’s trying to win a Major again after having waited 11 years and b) he’s trying to complete the Grand Slam. Only five players in the history of the game have ever done that.

“So Rory comes with a huge amount of pressure, expectation and burden sitting on his shoulders.

“Generally, Rory is a flair player and needs to be on his game in order to win. To win with his B-plus game at Sawgrass, that was different and will buy him confidence.

“Rory is able to play with an A, B and C game now. That hasn’t always been the case.

“He will do well, he will contend and if the golfing gods shine on him, he may well win.”

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Ironically, though, few of golf’s biggest stars head into the first major of 2025 in red-hot form – unlike 12 months ago when Scheffler was cleaning up before marching to win by four shots at Augusta.

But McGinley believes that lack of a clear-cut favourite makes for an “exciting” Masters.

The winning 2014 Ryder Cup captain explained: “It’s interesting, not many of the top players in the world are really on their game at the moment.

“Scheffler is not, Xander Schauffele is not, Jon Rahm hasn’t won on LIV this year.

“Tyrell Hatton was good at the start of the season but gone off a little bit. Wyndham Clark, too.

“Morikawa and McIlroy would be the two who would stand out.

“Last year, Scottie was winning tournaments and many people tipped him to win again and he did.

“This time, it is a very open Masters.

“As much as the superstars are important in the game, people like the narratives around up-and-coming guys coming through the field and we may well have somebody who mightn’t be expected winning this year.

“Outside of Rory, Bob MacIntyre will be the best-placed Brit while Shane Lowry has got the s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁set to win around there.”

• Sky Sports is the home of golf. Watch live coverage of The 2025 Masters, exclusively on Sky Sports Golf and NOW from 10-13 April.

Scottie Scheffler has won two of the last three MastersCredit: EPA

Collin Morikawa’s strong iron play will make him a contender at AugustaCredit: Getty

Paul McGinley gave his verdict to SunSportCredit: SunSport