Optimist Rory McIlroy hopes Masters can inspire return of old glories | Ewan Murray

His last major was in August 2014, he is in questionable form and has a new swing coach - but McIlroy knows Augusta

If he hadn't seen such riches he could live with being poor. Any assessment of a run for Rory McIlroy without claiming a major championship - which has now stretched to six years and eight months - comes with yearning. McIlroy at his best provides sporting masterpiece.

McIlroy won two of his four majors thus far by eight shots. Albeit the margin of victory at the 2014 Open Championship was far smaller, McIlroy controlled that event from start to finish. Just weeks later at the US PGA Championship, the ease with which he recovered from a mid-round Sunday position of three shots behind highlighted fortitude to match skill. At that point, 10 August 2014, there was a legitimate sense of McIlroy dominating golf for a prolonged period.