The defending champion is ‘a lot more relaxed’ but ‘just as motivated’ this year after finally winning at Augusta
O
n the Tuesday of last year’s Masters, Rory McIlroy dined with Justin Rose in the clubhouse at Augusta. He arrived right around the time that all the guests at Scottie Scheffler’s champions dinner were having cocktails on the balcony. “I was pulling up Magnolia Lane,” McIlroy says. “And I’m like, well, do I go and park way over at the parking lot? Because I’m not going to park in the champions parking lot.’”
Not when there’s Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and everyone else looking down. “I didn’t want to get out and use a valet because they were going to see me and it was going to be weird. So I had this really awkward moment,” McIlroy says with a laugh. “Thankfully that was the last time that I needed to do that.”
Five days later, he came into the media centre for his victory press conference. “I’d like to start with a question myself,” McIlroy said then. “What are we all going to talk about next year?” The answer, it turned out, was his mum and dad and everything he owes them, his daughter, his caddie, the menu for his own champions dinner this Tuesday evening, the flowers around the grounds, shoes, ships, sealing wax, cabbages and kings, everything but the one thing he’s had to talk about here every year since he blew a four-shot lead in the final round back in 2011.
