AUGUSTA, Ga. – Well, what are we going to talk about this year?
That was Rory McIlroy’s challenge to the press moments after he plopped down in the interview chair on that Sunday evening last April at Augusta National Golf Club, wearing his newly issued green jacket, the weight of becoming a Masters champion and completing the career grand slam having just lifted.
Since that historic day, McIlroy has taken several trips to the club – one time for some media projects, another to play with his dad, Gerry, and relive some of the iconic shots that he struck on his way to victory.
He finalized his Champions Dinner menu, which will be enjoyed Tuesday night, though not until after procrastinating a little. He made sure to include a vegetarian option for Gary Player (he kids) and avoided leaning too heavily into an Irish theme because, “I want to enjoy the dinner as well.”
McIlroy’s Tuesday press conference was refreshingly devoid of the same questions and reminders that haunted him for over a decade. However, McIlroy was now being grilled – playfully, of course – on how many flowers he can recount that also serve as names of Augusta National holes.
McIlroy rattled off six of them before being told he could move on.
The next question asked McIlroy about his opening remark last year: What do you think the story is now?
With a quick, succinct delivery, McIlroy answered, “Flowers.”
The room erupted in laughter.
When McIlroy touched down in Augusta last Saturday to take part in the festivities for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals, the page officially flipped to the 36-year-old’s title defense. He pulled into the parking lot reserved for green-jacket winners, unloaded some of his belongings into the champions locker room and walked freely around the clubhouse, which he long avoided, believing that he had to earn the right to be there for any extended period. He now knows why the trophy room is called the trophy room, and the founders room the founders room. He’s much more relaxed, and the reception from the patrons much more positive. No more, “Geez, Rory, we’ve been waiting a while. When are you going to get this done?”
“It is so nice to walk around property or be out on the golf course and, yeah, just not have that hanging over me,” McIlroy said. “Like it feels that it’s a big weight off my shoulders.”
That said: “It doesn’t make me any less motivated to go out there and play well and try to win the tournament.”
McIlroy reckoned the most difficult part of this encore would be the other 90 players in the field rather than any obligation or contentment. No player has successfully defended the Masters since Tiger Woods in 2001, and just three total have done so, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo being the other two. Now that McIlroy has checked off the greatest accomplishment in the sport, the slam, left to add are all the various adornments that would continue to bolster an already all-time resumé – more majors and Ryder Cups, sure, but also victories at more cathedrals of the game and leaving no doubt when it comes to titles like the greatest European player ever.
“I think the story as it relates to me is what do I do from now onwards? What motivates me? What gets me going? What do I still want to achieve in the game? I think that’s the story,” McIlroy explained. “And there’s still a lot that I want to do. You think every time you achieve something or have success that you’ll be happy, but then the goalposts move, and they just keep nudging a little bit further and further out of reach. I think what I’ve realized is, if you can just really find enjoyment in the journey, that’s the big thing because honestly I felt like the career grand slam was my destination, and I got there, and then I realized it wasn’t the destination.”
It took McIlroy some time to sober up after his Masters hangover, though he enters this tournament as the No. 2 player in the world by a good margin, with an Irish Open title achieved last fall, plus another Ryder Cup trophy, near win at Riviera and perhaps most meaningful, finally capturing that elusive Seminole Pro-Member gross title alongside his pops, who got mighty heavy down the stretch.
“Hopefully that’s the most pressure I feel this year,” said McIlroy, who, if not for a minor back injury that knocked him out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and limited him in his last start at The Players, might be favored to repeat.
Another perk of winning the Masters is getting to tee it up on the Sunday afternoon before the tournament week begins. McIlroy chose Gerry for his first such round.
“Every time I get to play golf with my dad, it’s a blessing,” McIlroy said. “It was just an amazing experience to be out there the Sunday before the Masters together and enjoy it all and soak it all in. I guess just reminisce on the journey that we’ve been on. It’s a long way from Holywood, Northern Ireland.”
And with that, McIlroy’s presser concluded. Nothing else needed to be said.