It is impossible to choose a single key moment in the final round of the Masters Tournament. Too many things happened to reduce it all to a single instant. There were several majestic shots and also some inexplicable errors. It was a rollercoaster. It was Roryland.
The best thing is to let Rory McIlroy explain himself, to break down each of those flashes. What was going through his mind, what was the strategy, how he managed to recover from each of the blows he received.
Rory has no doubt about what was the best shot on Sunday. He doesn’t blink. The second shot on the 7th hole. Over the trees, through a tiny gap. To the heart of the green. Here he went against Harry Diamond, his caddie. “The 7th hole has given me problems from the tee all week, just like the 14th and 17th. I struggled to see the line of the shot. When I got to the ball on the left, I knew where the flag was. I knew the front bunker wasn’t bad. I could have played there, low, but I saw a gap and thought: ‘I can get it on the green and, if it falls into the hollow, it might end up near the hole.’ It was a very similar shot to the one I made on Saturday from the trees on the right side: I opened the club and hit it as hard as I could with a 9-iron. Harry told me not to try it… and I said: ‘No, I can do it.’ Being able to achieve it was great, even though I didn’t make the putt. The truth is, whenever I got into the trees, I found a gap. I’ve been lucky all week. And honestly, with everything I’ve been through these years… I think I deserved it.” (Laughter).
That shot is, in his opinion, the best, but there is another one that is very close. You have to go to the 3rd hole, a moment that probably went more unnoticed in the overall view of the day. “The second on the 3rd hole was very important. I started with 6 and 5 and then hit a good drive on the 3rd. That second shot is complicated: you have to make it bounce uphill. Calculate it well and make birdie, when Bryson made bogey, and then make another birdie on the 4th, it was a great moment even though it was early in the round,” he explains.
Of course, the spectacular shot he made on the 15th hole cannot go unnoticed, right after making a double bogey on the 13th and a bogey on the 14th. “On the 15th I had an advantage. Bryson hit first and went into the water. The wind increased, so I changed from an 8-iron to a 7-iron. I knew that with that club I covered well. If it closed as I wanted, perfect; if not, the ball would end up in the right bunker, which is not easy, but it’s an acceptable miss. That was the plan,” he notes.
It is impossible not to talk about the second shot of the playoff. This time, yes, the definitive one to win the Masters and wear the green jacket. “I had two yards less in the playoff than on the 72nd hole. Also, it was a slightly flatter position, so I knew I had a perfect three-quarter gap wedge; it was going to land on the slope and come back. It was a good number. I just needed to make a good, decisive swing, and I did it at the right moment.”
He also referred to the brief chat with Harry when they were heading to the playoff right after making the bogey on the 18th. Another crucial moment. “When we were heading to the buggy to go back to the 18th tee, Harry said to me: ‘Mate, we would have signed for this on Monday morning.’ And I said: ‘Yes, of course.’ It was an easy way to reset myself. He told me that at the beginning of the week he would have given anything to be in a playoff, so that helped me change my focus. I told myself: ‘Make the same swing you did on the 72nd.’ And I hit a great drive. And the rest is history.”
Precisely, McIlroy got emotional when talking about his caddie. “I’ve known Harry since I was seven years old. I met him on the putting green at the Holywood Golf Club. We’ve lived so many good moments. He’s been like an older brother to me all my life (emotional). Sharing this with him, after being so close so many times, after all the unfair criticism he’s received from people who don’t understand the game… This victory is as much his as it is mine. He’s a fundamental part of what I do. I can’t think of anyone better to share this with.”
Of course, there were also difficult moments. By far, the toughest was the double bogey on the 13th hole. Perhaps the most inexplicable moment of all the bad ones McIlroy experienced yesterday. “I think I played the 13th hole smartly, at least the first two shots: 3-wood from the tee, then a lay-up to a good position. I had 75 yards to the flag. I was on a small rise. Normally when I hit from a rise with a wedge, the ball goes a bit to the left. I protected myself with a couple of meters of margin to the right. I wasn’t aiming at the creek, but it came out weak and a bit to the right, and that was it… making a double bogey on a hole that is a clear birdie opportunity. And seeing what Rosey and Ludvig were doing at that moment…”
To recover from that blow, it helped a lot to think that he still had another par 5 and his mind also went to the 16th hole. “I still had the 15th hole ahead. The bogey on the 14th didn’t help, but after the drive on the 15th, I felt I was still in the fight. I had in mind the 16th hole because it had an unusual flag for a Sunday, probably for the 50th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus’s famous shot in ’75. It’s a very difficult location. But the irons I hit at the end, on the 15th, 16th, 17th… and although not on the 72nd, yes in the playoff, were very good. My iron play this week was very good and that was evident in the final holes.”
McIlroy also acknowledged the moment of luck on the 11th hole. He doesn’t hide it. I’ve been lucky all week. As I said with the 7th. And yes, when Bryson went into the water on the 11th, I looked at my ball and thought: ‘Should I run and hit it before it rolls into the water?’ But it was on a small flat. I was lucky.”
Rory revealed that he approached the last part of his round in groups of three holes. That was his curious strategy. “When I made birdie on the 10th and bogey on the 11th —which was fine—, I made a good par on the 12th, hitting where I should. Walking to the 13th tee, I thought: ‘I can make 4, 4, 4 on the next three holes.’ That’s what I was thinking. It didn’t turn out that way, but I tried to divide the round into blocks of three holes. I felt I played well on the 10th, 11th, 12th. Then I tried to do the same with the 13th, 14th, 15th. It didn’t work. I played well on the 16th and 17th. I didn’t play the 18th badly, in fact, I had the opportunity to win in regulation,” he notes.
As you can see, McIlroy has earned his size 34 green jacket with blood, sweat, and tears. Yesterday, as soon as it was over, he only thought about celebrating it with his parents. “I traveled to Florida this Monday and will probably go to Northern Ireland next week to see my parents. They are there. It’s the best day of my life as a golfer. I’m very proud. Proud of not giving up, of continuing to come back, of getting up after every fall, of not letting disappointment defeat me. We return to eternal optimism. Yes, very proud.” He concludes.
