A year on from his dramatic collapse in the final round of the Masters, Rory McIlroy, his family and other players relive the day in Augusta. LAWRENCE DONEGANreports
THE FIRST rule of Major championship golf is assume nothing until the last shot is struck but on the Sunday morning of the 2011 Masters it was hard to find anyone who did not believe the day would be a formality. Rory McIlroy was four shots ahead of the field. Perhaps more significantly, the Northern Irishman had played an unbeatable brand of golf for three days. All he needed was one solid, unspectacular performance to bring home the victory.
Dawn broke on that beautiful Augusta morning. What could possibly go wrong.
Rosie McIlroy
(She and her husband Gerry had decided to stay at home in Holywood that week.)
“My sister was with me all weekend but she had tickets for a concert, I think it was Robbie Williams, so off she went. I had cabin fever, I was so nervous about the final round. So I went out and drove over to the other side of Belfast to get my favourite pizza. But I could only eat one slice of it, my stomach just closed up. I couldn’t eat.”
Gerry McIlroy
“Rosie gets a bit hyper watching the golf so I decided to go over to Rory’s place in Moneyreagh to look after his dogs and watch it there.”
Graeme McDowell
(The former US Open champion missed the cut. By Sunday afternoon he was back at home in Florida)
“I was a few pints deep in my local bar, The Tap Room at Lake Nona, with one of my pals. There are very few golf tournaments that I will miss the cut in and switch the TV on at the weekend, but Augusta is one of them. I’ve always enjoyed that tournament and the TV coverage is excellent. When one of your very good friends has got a chance to win his first Major, of course you are going to tune in.”
Rory McIlroy
(Paired with the 2010 Masters champion Angel Cabrera in the final group, he hit his opening tee shot straight down the fairway. He had a nine-iron to the green.)
“The one shot I’d take back is the second on the first hole. That was the first tentative swing I had made all week. I came up and out of the shot, and that’s when I knew it wasn’t going to be the same as the first three days.”
Graeme McDowell
“He looked a little bit jumpier than normal on the first tee. I feel like when Rory gets a little jumpy he needs a little bit more information than he normally does. Normally it’s a case of ‘Just give me a club and let me hit it’. I feel like when he gets a tiny bit tight all of a sudden, he slows down just a little. It is a very subtle thing but I could see it. Then he hits his approach to the first long and left to a pin that is back left. That was no-man’s land. I’m thinking: ‘Why did he do that?’”
********************
McIlroy missed a five-foot uphill putt for par, then scrambled a par five on the second.
His four-shot advantage was wiped out moments later when Charl Schwartzel eagled the par-four third.
********************
Rory McIlroy
“I heard the big roar for Charl. I knew then that my lead was gone. I think that was one of my mistakes. I was thinking too much about what everybody else was doing instead of concentrating on myself.”
Gerry McIlroy
“Rosie and I spoke on the phone a few times that night. She was quite upset. But I knew pretty early on that something wasn’t quite right about things. His body language wasn’t quite right.”
Peter Kostis
(A hugely respected US television analyst and swing coach, he was working for CBS that day.)
“From my perspective watching the whole thing, Rory’s weaknesses as a player were exposed on that Sunday and that was mainly his putting. He needed it to save him on those opening two or three holes in order for him to calm down. He felt more pressure on the full swing because of his putting mistakes. That was the genesis of the whole debacle.”
********************
Despite struggling with his approach play and putting, McIlroy reached the turn with a one-shot lead. His tee shot at the 10th ricocheted off a tree towards a cabin well to the left of the fairway. He ended up making a triple-bogey seven
********************
Graeme McDowell
“He had kind of steadied the ship after nine. What happened on the 10th was a monumentally bad break. That ball could easily have kicked and then we don’t have the situation that occurred. That was the turning point. It was just the most horrible break. At that point for a young kid time just starts to fly and it is very difficult to try and make good decisions.”
Angel Cabrera
(The Argentinian began the round with hopes of winning his second green jacket but, like McIlroy, struggled on the opening nine holes. He had a better view than anyone of the collapse.)
“I knew the day was going to be hard for him. Did I feel sorry for him? No, because when I play bad, nobody feels sorry for me. It was a shame, but I didn’t feel bad for him. I told him afterwards, ‘this is a tournament you can win many times’.”
********************
McIlroy bogeyed the 11th, four-putted the 12th, and then hit his tee shot at the 13th into trouble on the left.
********************
Rosie McIlroy
“I was crying my eyes out.”
Graeme McDowell
“I ended up feeling kind of sick for him. I watched it all to the very end but I certainly didn’t enjoy it.”
Rory McIlroy
“I felt like crying at the 13th. Up to that point, even after what happened at the 10th, you are thinking (with the) 13th, 15th, 16th holes you have a lot of chances coming in. I was optimistic. But the 13th hole was the one that took all that away.”
********************
The Northern Irishman parred the 13th, then played the last five holes in one-over par. He signed for a round of 80 and 15th place. Peter Kostis was waiting to interview him as he came out of the scorer’s hut.
********************
Peter Kostis
“I was assigned Rory’s interview at the very last minute. I gave him the option – I said: ‘Rory, I have been asked to interview you. Obviously I would understand if you were to decline.’ I told him I wouldn’t throw him under the bus. I know him reasonably well and I think he knew it isn’t our job to ask him aggressive questions right at the moment in time. All he said to me was: ‘Right now, all I need is a hug. Give me a hug and we will do the interview.’ So I gave him a hug and we did the interview.”
********************
The interview lasted one minute and 40 seconds. McIlroy received universal praise both for his composure and good grace.
********************
Peter Kostis
“No one enjoys doing those interviews. Having said that, Rory’s ability to man up and answer the questions openly and honesty and in a heart-felt way made it a much more palatable experience for both of us. I think he handled it magnificently. I don’t think he could have handled it any better. The thing I love about Rory is that he is a quick learner. He never seems to make the same mistake twice. He fixed his putting after what happened that day and went on to win the US Open.”
Conor Ridge
(Now McIlroy’s agent. He was there looking after another client and watched him walk up the hill to the clubhouse afterwards.)
“I felt so bad for him but it was almost as if at that stage he had the look of someone who had spent the back nine trying to get over what was happening. Having spoken a lot to him about it since, he had almost accepted his fate by the end of the round. He certainly didn’t look like a broken man.”
Gerry McIlroy
“He rang me half an hour after it was all over and said: ‘Don’t worry, I’m fine’.”
Rosie McIlroy
“I actually didn’t speak to him until the following day. He rang me in the afternoon. I was more upset than he was, I think. He said: ‘Mum, it’s only a game of golf. That’s the way it goes’.”
