Smiles and calm and gags about Irish cooking – McIlroy enjoying his hard-earned comfort at the Masters

The 42 reports from Augusta National Golf Club

THE MASTERS TRAFFICS in the tremendous lightness of being. 

The members in their green jackets cultivate an air of detached and unruffled satisfaction, while every patron around the course appears to be having the time of their lives. Augusta National is its own, verdant world and one utterly secluded from that which lies outside.

It was jarring to walk the course this morning and hear zero talk of the Strait of Hormuz and Donald Trump’s morning threat that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” in Iran. Nobody is allowed their phone, and so had no way of knowing about the latest turmoil cultivated by their golf-loving president. 

Those between the ropes are the only people upon whom the serenity of this place is not automatically bestowed. No, their peace of mind has to be earned, and nobody has had to pay more for theirs than Rory McIlroy. 

But he finally won it at his 17th time of asking, and now McIlroy is giving the air of a man determined to enjoy his spoils. And who can blame him? It takes a lot of work to look this relaxed. 

And so at Tuesday lunchtime he bounced into the opulent media room at Augusta National wearing his green jacket, taking a seat behind the raised, walnut dais, looking down from the stage upon the legion of scribes who for once had to come up with a new question to ask Rory McIlroy on the Tuesday of Masters week. 

There was a general fascination with some of the emblems and shibboleths of the Masters champion. Yes, the green jacket on his shoulders was the same as was presented to him a year ago, and yes, he has done his best to keep it in good condition, given he was too nervous to take sport’s most famous coat to a dry cleaner. Yes he has prepared the speech he will make at Tuesday’s champions dinner, and, yes, he has given it more thought than the menu for said dinner.

He exuded an exquisite kind of calm, smiling patiently and cracking jokes. 

“People keep asking me why didn’t you go more Irish?” he asked rhetorically about his menu. “And I said, because I want to enjoy the dinner as well.” 

He generously indulged one journalist who has been repeatedly asking players this week whether they can name the flowers after which each of the holes at Augusta National is named – he got to an impressive six before said journalist declared his question answered – and was then thrown back to his opening comment at his victorious press conference last year, asking what we would all talk about in 2026. 

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“Flowers,” he shot back without skipping a beat. 

At this point, the green jacket may have been the only weight preventing McIlroy becoming unmoored and floating off and bumping off the roof. 

“I think for the past 17 years I just could not wait for the tournament to start, and this year I wouldn’t care if the tournament never started,” grinned McIlroy. 

He has thrown himself into all of the statesmanlike expectations of the Masters champion, turning up to watch the Augusta National Women’s Amateur competition on Saturday and the kids’ Drive, Chip, and Putt event on Sunday. McIlroy would never ordinarily turn up at Augusta so far in advance of the tournament, his plan was often to leave it as late as possible, usually Sunday, or sometimes even Monday night. 

His final obligation is the Champions’ dinner on Tuesday evening, for which he selected the menu and has prepared a speech, the details of which he kept close to his chest. 

“I think the nice thing now is instead of it being ‘Come on, Rory, you know you can do this’, now it’s back-to-back. There’s a real positive connotation to it instead of, ‘Jeez, Rory, we’ve been waiting a while. When are you going to get this done?’

“It’s just very different, and maybe that’s just my perception of it. But it is so nice to walk around property or be out on the golf course and, yeah, just not have that hanging over me, like, it feels that it’s a big weight off my shoulders.” 

This all begs a question, of course. Escaping the purgatory of Masters stress will drag extreme commitment and focus from a man, but can the same be expected of anyone who has ascended to serenity? 

Asked whether he sees any particular major as more winnable now, McIlroy instantly rapped a knuckle on the table in front of him and said, without skipping a beat, “I think this one.” 

And in that moment, McIlroy would convince you he is ready to win this all over again. 

Written by Gavin Cooney and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.