Rory McIlroy is relaxed at this Masters. That makes him dangerous

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The thing about the Masters, when it’s all said and done, is that you play for the coat. Green jacket! The idea is so retro that no one would dare to create such an award today. (When was the last time you saw someone get on a domestic flight wearing a sports coat? Once upon a time de rigueur.) Rory McIlroy wanted the Augusta National club jersey since the day in 1997 when he saw Tiger Woods win the first one. Tiger has wanted one since the day he saw Jack Nicklaus win his sixth, in 1986. Jack had seen Bob Jones in a club jacket, hundreds of times over the years.

“Rory, the last time you were here, you wore the green jacket for the first time, and now you’re back as the Masters champion,” John Carr, son of Irish golf legend Joe Carr, told McIlroy on Tuesday afternoon. They were sitting together on a stage in the Augusta National press building, a sea of ​​reporters in front of them. Carr was there as interview moderator, and he was wearing a club jacket, too. “Tell us how it is.”

“It feels absolutely unbelievable,” McIlroy said. “I can’t believe it’s been 12 months since I’ve been sitting here and trying to take it all in. To be able to come back and do this press conference in a green jacket, that feels so good. It’s been an amazing 12 months, bringing this thing to the world, the joy on people’s faces when they see it, the joy I still get.”

One coat. So much fuss.

You play for a jacket, a locker in the Augusta National clubhouse to keep it, and a Tuesday night Masters-and-tie week dinner. Rory McIlroy, the defending champion, is hosting Tuesday’s dinner this year. He will be wearing his club jacket. Every last person at the table will be wearing their club jacket. And that’s what makes the Masters – the winner’s green jacket and all that having one means.

No one knows or cares how much money Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy earned when they won their first Masters. (Well, if you happen to care, let’s save you the trouble: Nicklaus, 1963, $20,000; Woods, 1997, $486,000; McIlroy, 2025, $4.2 million.) We know they have a coat, a locker, a seat at the table. In this narrow view of life, they are the envy of the world.

It is much harder to win your first coat than your second. Bubba Watson and Scottie Scheffler and Bernhard Langer and Ben Crenshaw, among others, will tell you that. That’s because you’re logged in. The pressure is off. On Sunday afternoon, you can breathe when others struggle for breath. Basically, no one should be surprised to see Rory McIlroy compete this year. Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed, alike. Winning or not winning involves many factors beyond the control of any player. But to compete all you need are huge reserves of talent.

“The nice thing now is instead of, ‘C’mon, Rory, you know you can do this,’ now it’s ‘Back-to-back!'” McIlroy said Tuesday. “There’s a good sense in it. Instead of, ‘Geez, Rory: We’ve been waiting a long time – when are you going to do this?’

“I feel very relaxed. I know I’ll be back here for many years, I’ll enjoy the benefits of being a champion here. It doesn’t make me more motivated to go out and play well and try to win the tournament. I’m more relaxed about everything.”

Last year, McIlroy came to the club for dinner with Justin Rose on Tuesday night during Masters week. Since he didn’t win the Masters, he also doesn’t have an invitation to the Champions Dinner. Young men in coats – their Augusta National club coats – had gathered for dinner.

“I was pulling down Magnolia Lane, and you come to a roundabout, and I’m like, ‘Am I going to park in this parking lot?’ Because I’m not going to park in the parking lot of the Contest.

Meanwhile, the champions were having their cocktails on the balcony. I’m like, ‘I don’t want to go out, go out – they’re going to see me and it’s going to be weird. Thank you for the time I needed to do that. I think it’s one of the best traditions in sports. And I’m very grateful to be a part of it.” Dinner. The winners in their club jackets. The defending champion picks up the tab.

Ben Hogan started the Champions Dinner, a year after winning the 1951 Masters. In his invitation to the winners, he said, “My only wish is that you wear your green coat.” Everyone has done it since then.

In the past, first-time winners have been given a club coat for Sunday night purposes, which is altered as needed later, usually for a better fit. McIlroy didn’t do that. The coat he was given on Sunday night last year is the one he will wear to his Tuesday night dinner. The coat he was given last year is the one he will hang in his closet, the one he shares with Ben Hogan (forever) and Ray Floyd.

The coat is now all over the world. He doesn’t take it to the tailor or the dry cleaners.

“I was scared,” McIlroy said. “I tried to be careful.”

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com