Rory McIlroy Needs Strong Showing This Weekend to Take Next Step in His Career

Augusta is a beast Rory McIlroy has yet to tame.

The Masters has been by far the harshest major to the No. 2 player in the world. McIlroy has won both the U.S. Open, in 2011, and the PGA Championship, in 2012. He also has a third-place finish in 2010 at The Open Championship. The best McIlroy has done at the Masters is a 15th-place finish in 2011.

The final two rounds in particular have been a major stumbling block. The 23-year-old finished nine over in rounds three and four in 2012, shot an eight-over 80 in the final round in 2011 and didn't even make the cut in 2010. McIlroy did perform well over the weekend in 2009, but that seems a lifetime ago.

Now beginning to reach his prime, McIlroy should consider it a major failure if he fails to move up the leaderboard this weekend.

No golfer is running away with the lead at the 2013 Masters. Jason Day is the leader, at six under.  Tiger Woods is lurking at three under and likely has many competitors taking notice. Let's not forget McIlroy is just a stroke behind Woods. Two under allows him the chance to really make a major rise.

Should the weather continue to be uncooperative, there's going to be a very good chance the scores are relatively low, leaving the door open for McIlroy.

It's not a case where anything less than a win is unacceptable. He simply needs to start building a reputation at Augusta as a closer.

Woods has long been known as one of the best in history when it comes to either making a late push or maintaining a lead going into the final day. That reputation began at Augusta in 1997 when Woods took the lead in the second round and subsequently ran away with the title over the final two rounds.

The best golfers of their respective eras have all had their moments at the Masters. The shots that are remembered the most don't happen in the first or second rounds, or really even the third round. It's the play on the final Sunday that takes a golfer from simply being a star to a legend.

McIlroy is yet to have that really transcendent moment at Augusta. At his age, he's clearly got a lot of time to start building the legacy. The earlier McIlroy starts laying the foundations for that legacy, though, the better.

For a look at the Masters leaderboard, you can click the link above.