'Does he want it too much?' - McIlroy's biggest Masters battle

The popular view is that McIlroy suffers from a build-up of mental scar tissue, first triggered by that Augusta capitulation in 2011. Although he quickly started collecting his quartet of majors, post 2014 there have been many instances where further setbacks have added to the malaise. Most recent was last year's US Open where he was beaten by to the title by Bryson DeChambeau despite leading by two with five holes to play. "It is possible for people to build something up in their heads and say this is the one that I struggle with because previously something bad happened," chartered psychologist Stephen Smith told BBC Sport. "That memory hasn't been processed properly out of what we call the short term executive memory into your long term memory. Smith has worked with athletes across a wide range of sports and says bad memories can influence physical performance. "The wire that carries the performance movement message from your brain to your body gets that wonderful swing going in a connected way," he said. "And that's why you make more mistakes on that hole or on that course or in that tournament, because you're just literally not able to send the signal to the muscles.