Augusta, GA – Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap tap. It could have been his lace mind, or perhaps a ticking watch. Up and down, he seemed to cycle through the past. Over and over again. It happened again and again until it happened – finally.
Rory McIlroy made history at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday. A career grand slam winner, Green Jacket winner and all the demon bankscher of the past, McIlroy currently has the fifth major championship to go with all the rest. He is one of only six members of the exclusive slam club, the greatest European golfer of all time and perhaps one of the best European golfers to date.
The Corn Crown Ceremony was awaited. Sometimes it felt far away until it was nearby and in front of it. Still, it was still running.
“I think I’ve been burdened with that since August 2014. It’s nearly 11 years,” McIlroy mentioned ThePGA Championship over a decade ago. “And I’m not only trying to get my next major, but also try to do it by joining a career grand slam – a group of five players, and I’m watching many of my peers get a green jacket in the process.
“It was difficult. I tried to approach this tournament with the most positive attitude each year, and I think it’s kind of a cumulative experience coming back here every year.
14 years were left out from his infamous moment when he coughed a 54-hole lead of four-shots in the worst round of his Masters career (8 over 80) and a second nine (43).
As he stepped into this place in the 10th teebox for the last time, the same possibility hanging in the balance, and a lifetime was happening. The light and innocent child no longer has his floppy hair trimmed and his flashy belt buckle is no longer part of his wardrobe.
Now, a man with salt and pepper in his hair, McIlroy, a grizzly look of a veteran who was tried, remained trapped.
His club opposed the grass and picked it up with cadence, his eyes shifting from the golf ball to the target line. They did it again…and once more…and again. The devil has finally been exonerated, his caddy, Harry Diamond, shows his teeth. It wasn’t a smile or a gesture of purpose.
Finding the 10th fairway in winding wood, McIlroy’s march to Masters surpassed one gravestone on a long road to the promised land. Fourteen years ago, Rory began sliding from his fingers with a triple bogey on the 10th, and saw a 4-putt double bogey on the 12th.
Within a decade when the trophies have not risen at major stages, the 35-year-old visited each of his ghosts (sometimes doubled back) in places that proved to be his most difficult test.
Earning a Master and completing a career grand slam was never easy. Not for Rory McIlroy.
Why does that happen? Golf doesn’t care about your name or pedigree, or what you’ve accomplished before – even if you’re one of all the timers the game has ever produced.
The past 11 years have not been easy given the countless close calls and endless unanswered prayers. You know the location. You know the tournament. You experienced the pain that passed with each failure.
The 150th opening at St Andrews, a golf home – Tournament McIlroy was destined to win – is perhaps the most hurt given that he fell below history. There was a lot of PGA Championship and we were opening, but the latter was primarily present as his best chance.
“I played very good golf… St Andrews was a difficult thing to take because I only got a few opportunities over the course of my career,” recalls McIlroy. “Last year, the US was terrible. But yeah, the losses are difficult and once again I’m proud to be back and keep myself going to win these championships.”
After a rocky start on Sunday in his final stanza, McIlroy avoided the field in Augusta National 4. Adding another circle to the 10th green below, McIlroy’s margin increased briefly to five with eight holes.
Most of the closet doors would have been open. Not for Rory McIlroy.
Defeat, sideways shots, and knows he can creep up mentally.
McIlroy blocked it all week and stayed in his coco. He read Josh Grisham’s “The Reckoning,” watching “Bridgerton” with his wife Erica, and focused on rewinding on his lap with his 4-year-old daughter Poppy while enjoying “Zootopia.”
Considering what particularly happened, the self-invention bubble had to be built on industrial power to not pop.
“Eight Holes” sounds short on paper. In particular, with a four-shot lead, McIlroy couldn’t be dragged for long in his lifetime pursuit. This time they were strong enough to support it.
McIlroy stepped out his counterpart at the beginning of Amen Corner and appeared well in his midst. Memories of Pinehurst No. 2 were washed and another gravestone visited (although respect may not be paid).
He may be, this is Rory McIlroy: he never intended to profit from a smooth ride.
The wise Wedgeshot painted his near miss several years ago on No. 13 on a trip to the Los Angeles Country Club, as a heart-warming visit to Ray’s Creek. The McIlroy confusion in the middle of the second nine nines went ahead and resolved the rest well.
Bogeys, pars, double bogeys, bogeys. Field met him. McIlroy still put the leaderboard on top, but now he was standing with Justin Rose and the two peers on his way to Rudig.
“You have to be an eternal optimist in this game,” McIlroy said. “I’ve been saying that until my face turned blue. I really believe I’m a better player now than I was a decade ago. It’s very difficult to stay patient.
“There was a point above [second nine] Today I was like, “Did you slip this one more?” But I responded with a few clutch shots when I needed it and was really proud of it. …It was an emotionally drained week for many reasons, many roller coaster rounds and slow finishes. I’m absolutely thrilled to sit here at the end of the week, like the last guy is standing. ”
With his arms caught and felt as if they had been removed from the jacket, McIlroy made the pass that caused the racket. Again at number 15, he summoned the best. The grandstand chanted his name and rose in sync. They were still upright while he walked nearby, the chant of his name involved the property.
Another birdie later called the two holes into the house, setting up a scene of McIlroy’s final encounter. The bombed drive seemed to have done most of the work. From 125 yards he burned another wedge shot to the right. After abandoning the third time from the greenside bunker, the tester was visible. The Pinehurst No. 2 ghost returned to the frame just 10 months ago. Mistakes from a short distance led to the playoffs and hole 73.
It wasn’t that simple. Not for Rory McIlroy.
“It’s a fight in your head and I think you can stay in the present moment, get this next shot and hit the next shot,” McIlroy said. “It was a battle today. My battle today was a battle against myself. It wasn’t with anyone else. It was with Justin there, but my battle today was with my heart.
“It was a struggle, but I got it on the line.”
The golf gods were cruel to McIlroy at these moments. Behold, they tricked the sleeves at the end.
Another incredible bomb settled in the short grass. Of course, 125 yards were once again at glory.
After wiping one right with regulations, McIlroy made the final amendment. His high, tight and pictorial approach landed long, tumbling down the slope and settled within tap-in distance.
The last one roll of the ball was all required McIlroy. The patron fell and whispered for complete silence. The ghosts have already used all the tricks they could recall, so they have become your home. The memories of the past moved him forward as the weight of the moment gathered together… and were replaced by a spot in the immortality of green jacket and golf, until it was finally lifted from his shoulders.
“It was all a relief. There was no much joy in the reaction. It was all relieved,” McIlroy laughed. “And you know, joy came soon afterwards… I’ve been here for 17 years and it’s been more than a decade of emotion that came out of it.”
