Inside Rory McIlroy’s new golf ball
Written by Rory McIlroy
Editor’s note: Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy rewrote golf’s history books by becoming only the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam following an emotional victory at the Masters Tournament. McIlroy joins the likes Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the only men to win all four majors championships, with his Masters triumph coming nearly 11 years after his last major success. McIlroy is now a five-time major championship winner and 29-time PGA TOUR champion. This is his blog from Augusta National.
It’s the best day of my golfing life and I’m very proud of myself, proud of never giving up. I’m proud of how I kept coming back and dusting myself off and not letting the disappointments get to me. It’s a dream come true. I have dreamt about this moment for as long as I can remember.
This feels incredible. It’s my 17th time here, and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time. I think the last 10 years of coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders, it weighed on me and I’m sort of wondering what we’re going to talk about going into next year’s Masters! I’m absolutely honored and thrilled, and so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.
At the presentation ceremony, I mentioned that watching Tiger Woods do what he did here in 1997, and winning his first green jacket, I think that inspired so many of my generation to want to emulate what he did. There were times in my career where I didn’t know if I would have this nice garment over my shoulders, but I didn’t make it easy in the final round.
I was nervous and it was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on the golf course. At the start of the day, it feels like having a knot in your stomach and I didn’t have much of an appetite all day. Your legs feel a little jelly-like, and those nerves are natural, and they are all good things. If you weren’t feeling like that, I think that’s more of a problem. It’s such a battle in your head of trying to stay in the present and hit this next shot good and hit the next shot good. My battle was with myself. At the end there, it was with Justin Rose, but my battle was with my mind and staying in the present.
Scottie Scheffler on Rory McIlroy’s career Grand Slam
In a funny way, I feel like the double bogey on the first hole sort of settled my nerves. Walking to the second tee, the first thing that popped into my head was Jon Rahm a couple years ago making double and going on to win this tournament. So at least my mind was in the right place, and I was at least thinking positively about it.
It was a complete roller-coaster of a day. It was very tricky out there and it almost felt more like a U.S. Open than a Masters at some point with how firm and fast the greens got. I am proud of how I bounced back from the double on No. 1 and the double on 13. I don’t know if any Masters champions had four doubles during the week, but maybe I’m the first.
After making the winning putt in the playoff, what came out of me on the last green was at least 11 years, if not 14 years of pent-up emotion. It was all relief. There wasn’t much joy in that reaction. It was all relief. And then, the joy came pretty soon after that. It was a decade-plus of emotion that came out of me. Since 2011 (when he held a four-shot lead with nine holes to play at Augusta National), I think it’s so ironic as well. I got to my locker on Sunday morning and there was a note in there from Angel Cabrera, and just wishing me luck. And Angel was the player I played with on the final day in 2011, so it was a nice touch. Thankfully I got the job done.
It’s been a very difficult journey. I think I’ve carried the burden of trying to complete the career Grand Slam since August 2014 (after winning the PGA Championship). It’s nearly 11 years, and not just about winning my next major, but also the career Grand Slam. Trying to join a group of five players to do it, and then watching a lot of my peers get green jackets in the process was difficult, and I’ve tried to approach the Masters with the most positive attitude each and every time that I’ve shown up. It was a heavy weight to carry and thankfully now, I don’t have to carry it and it frees me up and I know I’m coming back here every year, which is lovely.
Rory McIlroy’s powerful drives of the season … so far
You have to be the eternal optimist in this game. I’ve been saying this until I’m blue in the face. I truly believe I’m a better player now than I was 10 years ago. It’s so hard to stay patient, it’s so hard to keep coming back every year and trying your best and not being able to get it done. There was a point on the back nine on Sunday that I thought, have I let this slip again? But I responded with some clutch shots when I needed to, and I’m really proud of myself for that. It’s been an emotionally draining week for a lot of reasons, and I’m absolutely thrilled to be the last man standing.
If I look back now to 2011 when I had that lead on the back nine, I would see a young man that didn’t really know a whole lot about the world. I probably would see a young man with a lot of learning to do and a lot of growing up to do, maybe I probably didn’t understand myself. I didn’t understand why I got myself in a great position then, and I probably didn’t understand why I let it slip in a way. That experience, going through the hardships of tough losses and all that, and I would say to myself, just stay the course, just keep believing.
I’ve literally made my dreams come true, and I would say to every boy and girl reading this, believe in your dreams, and if you work hard enough and if you put the effort in, that you can achieve anything you want.
