It is going to be fascinating to watch Rory McIlroy’s performance this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, with the Northern Irishman making his first appearance since winning The Masters.
Rory McIlroy decided against playing in the RBC Heritage, and that appeared to be a wise decision as he ended up winning The Masters the previous week. Of course, McIlroy put us all on the most turbulent rollercoaster over the final day at Augusta National.
The 35-year-old seemed to do all he could to make sure that he did not leave the first major of the year with the green jacket. But obviously, it was no surprise that McIlroy did not make life easy for himself in the final round.
McIlroy made two more double bogeys on Sunday – to go with the two he made on Thursday – and needed a playoff to beat Justin Rose.
The comment Rory McIlroy made after winning The Masters which surprised Rex Hoggard
It immediately became clear what the moment meant to McIlroy. He could not help but fall to the floor in the place in which he confirmed his spot amongst the greatest to ever play the game. He became only the sixth player ever to complete the career grand slam.
McIlroy was understandably emotional as he departed the stage. An in truth, it is a wonder that he was able to say anything at all in his press conference.
But speaking on Golf Channel, Rex Hoggard noted that one comment McIlroy made really stood out to him.
“I’ve watched that walk about 100 times, it’s amazing watching him come up the hill, and I’ve seen so many creative memes about it. But you can see that burden, is what he’d called it, just sort of flow out of him when he finally made that putt in the playoff,” he said.
“I don’t know that that surprised me, because we all know what this meant to him. And certainly, he addressed it in the press conference afterwards – the idea that he’d been trying to do it for a decade, and he tried his best to show up at Augusta National every year with a good attitude, and we all know it was getting increasingly difficult as time went by.
“I think the one thing that truly surprised me when he was asked specifically about the joy he felt on that green when he went to his knees, and he was really quick to correct the person who asked the question and said that that wasn’t joy, that was relief. And I was kind of taken by that because those are two vastly different emotions.”
Why McIlroy’s comments at Augusta National actually make a lot of sense
You can understand why some of the joy may have been removed from McIlroy’s victory. Ultimately, nothing was more predictable than the majority of the questions McIlroy would face in the days ahead of The Masters, especially from 2015 onwards.
He has always had the talent to win, as he proved in 2011 when he led by four before the final round. But getting in contention was proving to be difficult enough. McIlroy had never actually come that close to winning by the time the tournament reached its final few holes before.
That pressure is now off. The joy will probably come later as he is able to reflect on where he finds himself in the pantheon of all-time greats.
Whatever near misses he has in his career now, he will know that nothing will compare to the disappointment he would have felt had his playing days ended without that Masters win.
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