Whether it was resetting after missing a putt to win or riding some well-earned luck at Augusta National, Rory McIlroy took pride in little details that made him a Masters champion.
The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland won his fifth major title and snapped an 11-year major title drought on Sunday by defeating England’s Justin Rose in a playoff to complete a career Grand Slam.
McIlroy withstood two double bogeys and three bogeys with help from four birdies, but there was little margin for error in his victory.
Following back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th holes that gave him a four-stroke lead at 14-under, McIlroy found himself in the right trees at 11.
McIlroy blasted his approach just shy of the green, the ball stopping just on the edge of a slope that would have sent it into a water hazard, likely turning his eventual bogey on the hole into a double-bogey or worse.
“I’ve rode my luck all week,” said McIlroy. “I think with the things that I’ve had to endure over the last few years, I think I deserved it.”
Those hard-earned luck storing moments include three major runner-up showings over the past three years.
“Any time I hit it in the trees this week, I had a gap,” McIlroy said. “You need that little bit of luck to win these golf tournaments.”
A cheering crowd informed McIlroy his ball had avoided a watery grave, unlike playing partner Bryson DeChambeau.
“I didn’t see the ball on 11, but I heard the sort of groan of the crowd as it was rolling towards there and then the cheer when it stopped,” McIlroy said.
“Bryson hit his shot in the water, and I was looking at my ball thinking, ‘Should I run down and hit it? Should I go down and hit it out of turn to make sure it doesn’t roll in?’
“But I got down there and it was on a little flat spot, so it was OK. But yeah, was quite fortunate.”
How lucky was McIlroy this week? He became the first Masters champion with four double bogeys in his victory run.
He only won after overcoming the heartache of missing a four-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that dropped him into a playoff.
‘The rest is history’
McIlroy thanked caddie Harry Diamond for keeping his mental focus where it needed to be when it mattered most.
“Harry and I were walking to the golf cart to bring us back to the 18th tee, and he said to me, ‘Well, pal, we would have taken this on Monday morning.’
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, absolutely we would have.’ That was an easy reset. He basically said to me, look, you would have given your right arm to be in a playoff at the start of the week. So that sort of reframed it a little bit for me.”
McIlroy just focused on duplicating his tee shot from regulation and he did to find the fairway.
“I just kept telling myself, just make the same swing you made in regulation,” McIlroy said. “I hit a great drive up there, and yeah, the rest is history.”
