Rory McIlroy cracks a joke during his 2012 Masters press conference. (Getty Images)

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Choking can play incredible tricks on the delicate human mind. You replay shot after shot, putt after putt, bad swing after bad swing, hoping that somehow the memory erases sooner than later, knowing very well it’s simply impossible. 

For Rory McIlroy, the comeback test for his 2011 Masters collapse wasn’t the week after in Malaysia or two months later at Congressional, where he stormed to an eight shot win at the U.S. Open to claim his first major championship. No, the real test for anybody that went through what McIlroy went through is going back to the scene of the crime and hoping that the stomach doesn’t twist and turn like it might for some.

And for Rory, it sure doesn’t seem like he will be needing the Tums.

McIlroy sat down on Tuesday at Augusta National and answered question after question about a final round in 2011 that had him start with a four shot lead and end 10 shots back of eventual champion Charl Schwartzel.

“I think one of the things I learned was that as a person and a golfer, I wasn’t ready to win the Masters,” McIlroy admitted to the media, guard down and eyes straightforward. “Wasn’t ready to win a major. I really needed to think about what I needed to do to improve mentally and in different aspects of my game to get better. I felt like I did that.” 

A lot has changed for Rory since that moment in 2011. He has changed management groups and girlfriends, added some noticeable muscle to his once scrawny frame and the title of major champion. He was, for a short time, world number one after winning the Honda Classic earlier this year and every time you see him in person, the confidence has seemed to grow. 

His personality isn’t exactly molded for Q and A’s, but he handles every question with grace, taking whatever is thrown at him and expanding on it, a recipe that will surely help him navigate Augusta National a year after a collapse that would doom most mortals. 

McIlroy said his approach a year ago was different. He came in hoping to play well and thinking he might be able to win, words that suggest his pole position on Sunday was more shocking than soothing. This year is different. He’s coming in the favorite with Tiger Woods and seems completely content with that.

“Mentally, now I feel like if I get myself in a position again, I’ll be able to approach it a lot better. I felt like I didn’t approach it well at all last year. And really the way I approached it was out of character for me, and I realized that and realized that I just needed to try and be myself a little bit more,” McIlroy admitted.

Rory admits this whole thing isn’t just the Rory and Tiger show, as much as some of us are making it. He talked about the many guys in the field playing well, and how golfers lose way more than they win, but a big focus on the week is how McIlroy will take in a competitive situation at a course that absolutely defeated him in 2011. 

Most wouldn’t be as confident as the young man was sitting in front of a microphone on Tuesday at Augusta National, but most aren’t Rory McIlroy.