Masters with a difference as Rory McIlroy arrives at Augusta pressure-free
Defending champion reflects on last year’s glory and says he’s looking forward to just focusing on enjoyment this tme around
Rory McIlroy’s head used to be filled with all sorts of things - juggling and meditating one year, for instance - when driving up Magnolia Lane at the start of Masters week, but not any more. Not when he got that monkey off his back 12 months ago when finally claiming a Green Jacket and, in the process, becoming just the sixth golfer to complete a career grand slam.
“No, this is going to be the first time I drive down Magnolia Lane, and it's all going to be about enjoying my week,” declared the Northern Irishman, speaking in a traditional defending champion’s virtual press conference, in reply to being asked if, as he’d predicted in his winner’s press conference at Augusta National, if he was, indeed, burden-free when it came to the season’s opening major.
“You know, enjoying the perks that come along with being a Masters champion. Having a parking space in the Champions’ car park to using the Champions’ locker room. Hosting the dinner on the Tuesday night. Yeah, the thing is, I know I get to go back to the Masters Tournament for the rest of my life, and that's quite a freeing feeling.”
It would be no surprise, of course, that, after all the pressure and strain he’d faced there in the past came flooding out on the 18th green after a play-off win over Justin Rose, McIlroy won again at this particular venue, which, in truth, suited his game from the moment he first played it in 2009 and had one arm in a Green Jacket before imploding on the back nine.
In what was a brilliant question, the 36-year-old was asked what he had learned about how to win The Masters by actually winning The Masters. “Staying aggressive,” he replied, having looked as though he could throw away another golden opportunity as he hit an awful third shot at the par-5 13th in the final round to run up a double-bogey 7 before recovering to make brilliant birdies at the 14th and, in particular, the 17th.
“I think Augusta over the years has made me quite tentative at times, especially with approach play, and I think once you get tentative, you can start leaving yourself in some really bad spots, and it's hard to get up-and-down. So I think staying aggressive around there.
Phil Mickelson’s advice helped him get Green Jacket
“I played a practice round with Phil Mickelson, maybe, I don't know, ten or 15 years ago, probably closer to 15 years ago, and I always remember he said to me, ‘Rory, one of the reasons I love Augusta National is because I feel I can be so aggressive here’. I remember thinking, ‘what does he mean?’ I feel the opposite. I feel I can't be aggressive here because there's so many bad places to miss. But Phil had so much - still has, probably - faith in his short game that if he does miss an approach shot by being aggressive, he still feels he can get that ball up-and-down.
“I think, I would say by becoming a better putter and by maybe working on my short game a little bit and becoming better around the greens, that probably allowed me to become more aggressive with my approach play at Augusta. I think that's been a big part of the reason why my play has gotten better there over the years.”
McIlroy’s walk from the 18th green over to the recording area is one of the best things you could ever watch in sport due to the fact it showed exactly what winning at Augusta National meant to him and, of course, join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in that exclusive career grand slam group.
His aim now is to add to a tally that stands at five majors and make up for a decade when he was stuck on four. At the same time, though, this week should be about remembering something very special, including an appropriate celebration straight afterwards.
“A little foggy,” he replied, laughing, to being asked what the morning after had felt like after his decade-long wait to add The Masters to earlier wins in the US Open, PGA Championship (twice) and The Open. “I think I woke up and I just had to make sure that it wasn't a dream. “People talk about those pinch-me moments and it really was like, did that really happen?
“You know, it was a wonderful night. It carried on for a couple days. But it's the same stuff. I needed to get up and I needed to pack my suitcase and load the car up and go to the airport and do all the things that you normally have to do after a tournament. But it was fun. I mean, it was so much fun to get home and have dinner at home and wear this jacket (he was wearing it for his press conference) and just watch the highlights. Yeah, it's the best. You have that immense of, like, satisfaction, and you reflect on the journey.
‘Incredibly grateful for everything that's happened in my life’
“I kept saying this afterwards, but it just made me feel incredibly grateful for everything that's happened in my life. And I think that's been the overwhelming feeling of having this jacket for a year is just how honored and grateful I am that I was able to do it, and how grateful I am that I've had so much great support along the way. I talk about the morning after getting the world No 1 and having this sort of empty feeling, I didn't have that with this. I think I was chasing it for so long.
"But, as time goes on, it becomes normal and it's been normal for me to go into my closet and see the green jacket hanging there. I only have a few more weeks with it, unfortunately. But, hopefully, it's not the last time I get to bring off property.”
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