AUGUSTA, Ga. — The look on Rory McIlroy’s face says it all. As he walked up to his ball from the right of the 18th fairway at Augusta National so that it was almost 10, he took a deep breath and shook his head. Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy — not at Augusta National, not for him, not after holding a six-shot, 36-hole shot and not after feeling the feeling of victory here before.
The last perfect shot he hit last year to win the Masters in a playoff was a bit of a memory. Now, he had to find a way to put the ball in the hole in five strokes to wear the green jacket again.
“I thought it was very difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the grand slam,” said McIlroy. “And then this year, I realized that it’s really hard to win the Masters. I tried to convince myself that it was both.”
Two-shot leader McIlroy set up an easy clincher: Hit it to the fairway, hit the green and putt away — a stress-free trip up the 18th fairway he couldn’t experience last year. Instead, McIlroy slipped on his glove and took a long, flawless drive to clear the gallery of sponsors and create a clear view of his target. He would need one last escape.
“I don’t make it easy,” McIlroy said. “I used to take it easy when I was 20 years old when I was winning these things by eight shots. It’s hard. It’s hard to win golf tournaments.”
Last year, McIlroy tried his best to find freedom in the perfect quest; but as he said on Friday, he found himself lacking enthusiasm at times. He realized that the grand slam was not a satisfying place, but only temporary. But by the time the anniversary of his victory arrived, McIlroy’s perspective had changed. He spent the three weeks leading up to the tournament away from competitive golf and instead turned this grueling golf course into his practice area.
“I joked last week and going into this week that this place feels like my home course,” McIlroy said. “I haven’t played anywhere else in the last two or three weeks, really.”
He visited on a lunchtime trip after dropping his daughter Poppy off at school, he played this lesson time and time again, not hoping to get the edge but instead falling in love with it again. This Sisyphean piece of land was so insurmountable for so long that McIlroy even loathed the annual trip he would have to make here in April.
Now, Augusta had become the site of his greatest victories so McIlroy found himself drawing here again and again. Remembering advice from Jack Nicklaus about how he prepares for tournaments by simulating a full tournament, McIlroy played rounds at Augusta with one ball and discovered new parts of the golf course he had never imagined. Rumor has it this week that, in one of those rounds, he shot what would have been a course record 62.
Sometimes he would slow down, rub and put in the repaired areas as if he were re-reading the book he came to find a new relationship with.
“I felt prepared that way. I felt prepared that wherever I hit on the golf course, I know what to do. I know where to miss,” McIlroy said. “I’m comfortable with all the shooting around the greens.”
When he raced to share the lead on Thursday and take a six-stroke lead on Friday after shooting a 65, it was a welcome reassurance: the work he had done had paid off. Despite not being at his best, missing the fairways and pulling his irons, he enjoyed every spot he put himself in.
“My scrimmage and my short game and my putting,” McIlroy said. “That’s what won the tournament for me this week.”
And yet even familiarity could not change McIlroy’s software. He missed six of his shots on Saturday and had to dig deep to salvage his chances in the tournament. Sunday was no different. He lost a share of the lead on the second hole and regained it on the third. He double bogeyed the fourth hole and added another bogey on the sixth. He was shot twice in the back.
The roller-coaster ride continued: McIlroy birdied the 7th and 8th and arrived at Amen Corner with a one-stroke solo lead. He chipped in a 9-iron on 12 that stopped for birdie and got up-and-down for another on 13. A year after playing Amen Corner at 3-over par, McIlroy went through a trio of holes five shots better and with a lead he would never relinquish. Not at this time.
On a day when no one seemed eager to take the lead and keep it, McIlroy once again did enough and did it his way — not with dominance but with drama. Not by conviction but by showing a full range of emotions and bringing everyone along for the ride.
“Of all the majors, I think it’s the most mental. It’s the most mentally challenging,” McIlroy said. “I think it’s hard to stay in one mental place for four days in a row.”
After a shot on the 18th and rounding every tree in his path and into the hole that almost ended his dream last year, McIlroy watched his par putt skim a few inches before making the mark. Finally, there were no more doubts or pitfalls that awaited him.
He turned behind the green, saw his family and raised his arms. It was more joy and not a bunch of depressing emotions like last year, he later explained. It fell later when, after returning to his green jacket, he spoke directly to his parents.
“Mom and dad, I owe you everything,” McIlroy said through tears. “You have wonderful parents. And if I can be the same parent to Poppy that you were to me, I know I’ve done a good job.”
They had both spent the previous April crossing the Atlantic, watching their son wrestle with it late into the night before he succeeded. This year, the two were here — Gerry following Rory’s rounds all week while Rosie followed, a slung over her shoulder bag painted with newspaper clippings of McIlroy’s slam victories.
“I found myself on the golf course a few times thinking about them, and I said ‘no, not yet, not yet,'” McIlroy said. “I had to convince them to come this year because they thought the reason I won last year was because they weren’t there. I’m glad we showed them that that’s wrong, so they can continue to come if they want to.”
When he finally allowed himself to think about them, McIlroy walked down the 18th green and received their hug. A year ago, he had turned this place into a hall of horrors and made his achievements, but on Sunday, as he became the champion again and buried his head in the shoulders of his parents, McIlroy was at home.
