By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
New Masters champion opens up on his 11-year journey to a career grand slam
He’d found himself on the floor so many times over the last 11 years.
Some had been from punches landed by others while he’d shot himself in
the foot a few times as well.
Time and time again, though, Rory McIlroy had picked himself up, refused
to believe that he would never win another major and gone again.
Heaven knows what scars would have been left if it had ended up badly
for him again at Augusta National on Sunday and he did his best for that
to happen. Thankfully, though, we will never know.
At the end of possibly the most dramatic day in golf’s history, the
35-year-old Northern Irishman achieved his Holy Grail. No longer will he
be referred to as ‘career grand slam-chasing Rory McIlroy’.
In
beating his Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose to win the 89th Masters,
McIlroy joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and
Tiger Woods as the only players to have won the game’s four majors.
It
all seemed so easy for McIlroy when, ironically, of course, a couple of
months after blowing a four-shot lead in the final round at Augusta
National, he landed the 2011 US Open by eight shots at Congressional
Country Club.
He then added the PGA Championship the following year by the same margin
at Kiawah Island and was absolutely flying when winning The Open at
Royal Liverpool in 2014 then, a few weeks later, a second PGA
Championship at Valhalla.
All
that was standing between him and immortality was a Green Jacket and,
at the 11th attempt in terms of completing that grand slam and 17th in
total, he’s got one - a 38 regular, for the record.
“There's
been a few,” replied McIlroy in his post-event press conference to
being asked what had been the low point during his major drought, having
tied five players, the most recent being Woods, with the longest gap
between wins in the game’s marquee events.
“It's
hard because, like, I've played so much good golf. It's hard to call
the second-place finishes. St Andrews (where, after his putter turned
cold, he was denied by a brilliant last round from Cameron Smith in the
150th Open in 2022) was a tough one to take because you only get a few
opportunities there, you know, during the course of your career.
“The US Open last year (when he missed a couple of short putts late on
and lost out to Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst) was awful. But, yeah,
the losses are hard, and you know, again, just so proud of myself that I
keep coming back and putting myself in positions to win these
championships.”
Wearing his new Green Jacket, Rory McIlroy shows off the trophy with daughter Poppy and wife Erica at Augusta National Golf Club
In
terms of The Masters, McIlroy had tried everything you could think of
to see if it would do the trick. In the end, it was a combination of
some outstanding golf and being resilient that got the job done but, as
he admitted, extraordinary achievements like this one don’t come easy.
“You
have to be the eternal optimist in this game,” he added, having joined
Seve Ballesteris, James Braid, Brooks Koepka, Byron Nelson, J.H Taylor
and Peter Thomson on the five-major mark. You know, I've been saying it
until I'm blue in the face. I truly believe I'm a better player now than
I was ten years ago.
“You
know, it's so hard to stay patient. It's so hard to keep coming back
every year and trying your best and not being able to get it done. There
were points on the back nine today, I thought, ‘have I let this slip
again?’ But I responded with some clutch shots when I needed to, and
really proud of myself for that.
“It's
been an emotionally draining week for a lot of reasons, a lot of just
roller coaster rounds and late finishes. So just absolutely thrilled to
be sitting here at the end of the week as the last man standing.”
On
an extraordinary day, the world No 2 lost a two-shot lead over playing
partner DeChambeau straight away after starting with a double bogey
before then falling behind as the American birdied the second. Helped by
back-to-back two-shot swings, it was advantage McIlroy again and, at
one point, he was four ahead.
A
shocking wedge shot at the 13th that led to a double-bogey 7 would have
haunted him forever if it hadn’t worked out the way it did, but a
jaw-dropping 7 iron around the trees at the 15th, a stunning approach at
the 17th and then an equally good one at the 18th in the sudden-death
play-off with Justin Rose meant it was McIlroy’s time at the Georgia
venue at last.
“I
would see a young man that didn't really know a whole lot about the
world. I would,” he replied to being asked about 2011, when he looked
crushed as a wayward tee shot at the tenth led to one of the
most-crushing disappointments of his career.
Rory McIlroy reacts on the 13th green after running up a double-bogey 7 in the final round
“Yeah,
I'd say I probably would see a young man with a lot of learning to do
and a lot of growing up to do. Maybe I probably didn't understand
myself. I didn't understand why I got myself in a great position in
2011, and I probably didn't understand why I let it slip in a way. But I
think just having a little more self-reflection.
“You
know, that experience, going through the hardships of tough losses and
all that, and I would say to him, just stay the course. Just keep
believing. I've literally made my dreams come true today, and I would
say to every boy and girl listening to this, believe in your dreams, and
if you work hard enough and if you put the effort in, that you can
achieve anything you want.”
Quail
Hollow, a happy hunting ground for him, is next up in the majors for
the PGA Championship while a home gig awaits at Royal Portrush in the
153rd Open in July. For now, though, let’s just enjoy something very
special indeed and the hard yards it’s taken to achieve it.
