AUGUSTA, Ga. – The expression on Rory McIlroy ‘s face said it all. As he walked up to his ball so right of the 18th fairway at Augusta National that it was nearly on the 10th, he let out a deep sigh and shook his head. Of course it was not going to be easy – not at Augusta National, not for him, not after holding a six-shot, 36-hole lead and not even after already experiencing the feeling of having won here before.
The perfect final tee shot he hit last year to win the Masters in a playoff was a faint memory. Now, he had to find a way to get the ball in the hole in five strokes in order to wear the green jacket once again.
“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the grand slam,” McIlroy said. “And then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters. I tried to convince myself it was both.”
The two-shot lead McIlroy held set up for a simple coronation. Hit it in the fairway, plop it on the green and bask in the moment – a stress-free walk up the 18th fairway that he was unable to experience a year ago. Instead, McIlroy slipped on his glove and took a long, unceremonious walk to move the gallery of patrons and create a clear view of his target. He was going to need to pull off one last escape.
“I don’t make it easy,” said McIlroy. “I used to make it easy back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots. It’s just hard. It’s hard to win golf tournaments.”
Over the last year, McIlroy has tried with all his might to find freedom in a quest complete, but as he said Friday, he found himself unmotivated at times. He realized the grand slam was not a fulfilling destination, only a momentary one. But by the time the anniversary of his win arrived, McIlroy’s perspective had shifted. He had spent the three weeks leading up to the tournament away from competitive golf and instead turned this vexing golf course into his practice facility.
“I joked last week and going into this week that this place feels like my home course,” said McIlroy. “I haven’t played anywhere else in the last two or three weeks really.”
He visited on day trips after dropping off his daughter Poppy at school, he played the course time after time, not necessarily hoping to find an edge but rather to fall in love with it again. This Sisyphean plot of land had been unconquerable for so long that McIlroy had come to loath the yearly trip he would have to make here in April.
Now, Augusta had transformed into a place of his greatest triumph so McIlroy found himself gravitating here again and again. Recalling advice from Jack Nicklaus about how he prepared for tournaments by simulating a full tournament in practice, McIlroy played rounds at Augusta with one ball and discovered new portions of the golf course he’d never thought about. The rumor on the grounds this week was that, in one of those rounds, he had shot a would-be course record 62.
Other times he slowed down, chipping and putting on the manicured surfaces as if he was re-reading a book he had come to find a new affinity for.
“I felt prepared in that way. I felt prepared that wherever I hit it on the golf course, I sort of know what to do. I know where to miss,” McIlroy said. “I’m pretty comfortable with all the shots around the greens.”
When he raced out to share of the lead Thursday and a six-shot lead Friday after shooting a 65, it was a welcome confirmation: the work he had put in had paid off. Despite not having his best stuff, missing fairways and pulling his irons, he was relishing every spot he put himself in.
“My scrambling and my short game and my putting,” McIlroy said. “That’s what won me the tournament this week.”
And yet even familiarity could not change McIlroy’s software. He squandered his six-shot lead in a flash Saturday and had to dig deep to rescue his chances at the tournament. Sunday was no different. He lost his share of the lead on the second hole and then regained it on the third. He double-bogeyed the fourth hole and added another bogey at the sixth. He was suddenly two shots behind.
The roller-coaster ride continued: McIlroy birdied the 7th and the 8th and arrived at Amen Corner with a one-stroke solo lead. He carved a 9-iron into 12th that set up a birdie and got up-and-down for another on the 13th. A year after playing Amen Corner in 3-over par, McIlroy maneuvered his way through the trio of holes five shots better and with a lead he would not relinquish. Not this time.
On a day where no one seemed eager to grab the lead and keep it, McIlroy once again did just enough and did it in his own way — not with dominance but with drama. Not with certainty but by displaying the full range of emotions and bringing everyone along for the ride.
“Of all the big sports, I do think it is the most mental. It’s the most challenging mentally,” said McIlroy. “I think it’s hard to stay in the same mental space for four days in a row.”
After getting his shot on 18 up and around every possible tree in his way and into the bunker that nearly snuffed his dream last year, McIlroy watched his par putt trickle by a few inches before marking it. At last, there was no more doubt or possible pitfalls awaiting him.
He turned toward the back of the green, saw his family and raised his arms. It was more joy and not as much of an overwhelming cascade of emotions as last year, he later explained. Those hit later when, after slipping into his green jacket once again, he spoke directly to his parents.
“Mom and dad, I owe everything to you,” McIlroy said through tears. “You’re the most wonderful parents. And if I can be half the parent to Poppy that you were to me then I know I’ve done a good job.”
Both had spent last April across the Atlantic, watching their son wrestle with himself late into the night before emerging victorious. This year, the two were here — Gerry following Rory’s rounds throughout the week while Rosie followed, a handbag slung over shoulder that was painted with newspaper clippings of McIlroy’s grand slam victory.
“I caught myself on the golf course a couple of times thinking about them, and I was like ‘no, not yet, not yet,” McIlroy said. “I had to sort of convince them to come this year because they thought the reason I won last year was because they weren’t here. I’m glad we proved that wrong, so they can keep coming as long as they want.”
When he finally allowed himself to think about them, McIlroy stepped off the 18th green and found their embrace. A year ago, he had turned this place from a hall of horrors into his crowning achievement, but Sunday, as he emerged a champion again and buried his head in his parents’ shoulders, McIlroy was home.
