Augusta: You are expected to make four-foot putts in professional golf and probably walk away from the hole nonchalantly.
Not if you are Rory McIlroy. And not when it is to win your first-ever Masters title on the 18th hole of Augusta National Golf Club.
Fourteen years of pain and heartbreaks have led to a lot of pent-up emotions in the 35-year-old. It all poured out copiously in the form of tears as McIlroy beat Justin Rose on the first playoff hole.
The golf course that brought him to his knees several times in the past, did that again in the most glorious moment of his career. McIlroy sank to the hallowed turf, holding his head in disbelief, let out a primal scream, and visibly heaved in relief as the demons lifted from his rather broad shoulders, which surprisingly fitted nicely into a size 38 Green Jacket.
The man from Holywood, Northern Ireland, ended nearly an 11-year drought in Major championships, and a 14-year wait at Augusta National since his famous meltdown over the second nine on the Sunday of the 2011 Masters. It put him among the pantheon of golf greats, becoming only the sixth professional in the history of men’s golf to record a career Grand Slam.
There could not have been a more fitting end to the 89th edition of the tournament, and everything that you expect from a Masters Sunday, was there to savour. The ebbs and flows of the day would have tested the hearts of thousands who turned up.
There were some unbelievable shots, like when McIlroy threaded a high draw over the tall trees on the seventh hole, or that towering hook from 206 yards with a 7-iron that rolled to six feet for eagle (he got a birdie) on the 15th, or the second shot to 18th in the playoff. Then there were some that he’d rather forget – the tee shot on the first, and the third on the 13th that drowned in the Rae’s Creek. And there was some plain old luck involved, like when his second shot on the 11th hole defied the laws of physics and stayed dry.
“It’s a dream come true. I have dreamt about that moment for as long as I can remember,” said McIlroy, who started his round with a double bogey, then added another on the 13th and finished with a one-over-par 73.
“There were points 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 today. I was nervous. It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on the golf course.
“In a funny way, I feel like the double bogey on the first sort of settled my nerves. But just a complete roller coaster of a day. It was very tricky out there… almost felt more like a US Open than a Masters at some points just with how firm and fast the greens got.”
McIlroy said the last 11 years at Majors have been tough for him, and that he has carried a burden at the Masters for the past 14 years.
“It’s not just about winning my next major, but the career Grand Slam, trying to join a group of five players to do it, you know, watching a lot of my peers get green jackets in the process, he explained.
“You have to be the eternal optimist in this game. I’ve been saying it until I’m blue in the face, but I truly believe I’m a better player now than I was 10 years ago.
“It’s so hard to stay patient. It’s been difficult, and I’ve tried to approach this tournament with the most positive attitude each and every time I’ve shown up. It was a heavy weight to carry, and thankfully, now that I don’t have to carry it, it frees me up. I know I’m coming back here every year, which is lovely.”
It seemed a travesty of justice that Rose’s stunning final-day charge – one that included 10 birdies in a round of 66 – would fall short. It was his second runners-up finish in the last two Majors, having come up short to Xander Schauffele in the Open Championship at Royal Troon last July.
Seven shots adrift of McIlroy after the 10, Rose birdied every hole of Augusta’s famous and brutal Amen Corner, and came to within a whisker of claiming his second major title.
Asked if it was his greatest round in a major champion, the 44-year-old said: “Nearly. It was a bogey away from being the greatest round I’ve ever played. It is a great round, if you look at the quality of golf.
“But obviously, there are moments there that you look back on and think I made the mistake there and the mistake there at the wrong time. But tough to dwell on that because 10 birdies on this golf course is unbelievable golf.”
