Rory, tomato pies and Green Jacket strikeouts: 50 Masters week thoughts

TOP DAWG TAVERN AS BERNHARD LANGER LOOKS OVER ME FROM A BILLBOARD, Ga. — I’m thinking of the what-ifs. The week’s been long. Mistakes were made. 

What if … I hadn’t eaten 20 to 25 sandwiches wrapped in green bags over the past six days? And several cookies?

What if I’d slept a couple hours? What if I’d showered last night? 

What if Rory McIlroy had won the Masters in 2011? And maybe the Open Championship in 2022? And maybe the 2024 U.S. Open? He could’ve. Probably should’ve. 

Is it OK to say thank goodness he didn’t, after what went down Sunday, when he, at long last, became a Masters champion? The scene was theatrical, too. Lost and reclaimed leads. Blow-ups and birdies. A win in a playoff. Emotion. Even a dunk on the gathered media herd, whom he rhetorically asked in his winner’s press conference, “What are we all going to talk about next year?”

Good one. 

Sunday afternoon, I walked all 18 with the winner, though I did so with the patrons, in an attempt to understand why McIlroy had conjured up the lowest of lows among his faithful after previous major failures, and how Sunday would’ve been even more of an extreme for them — either glory or gory. But what I didn’t write was that a few people asked me what I thought, and if you care at all, here’s that answer. 

Because we don’t watch sports just to see winners. It wouldn’t be, well, sports. Yes, it’s sourful to lose. But man, when you finally come through, it’s oh so sweeter.    

So good ahead and have a day, McIlroy fans. He’s earned it. You’ve earned it. I’ve earned a bath.  

With that, here are a few more thoughts from the Augusta week that was. There’ll be bits on the golf. And items that orbit the golf. We’ve done this before in this space, and at this place, the Top Dawg Tavern on Washington Road, a friendly joint with a big menu and ’70s, ’80s and ’90s rock pumping. 

Let’s shoot for 50. 

2. Let’s keep going with McIlroy. 

We’ll be watching this for a while. 

3. The putt that followed, though, didn’t even touch the hole. There was a lot of that on Sunday. 

4. Like on 18. Here’s the putt to win in regulation. 

Here’s the putt to win the playoff. 

But again, sports. Again, McIlroy.  

5. I watched this from about 25 yards away. A patron nearby whispered, “He’s going for it?” Again, McIlroy.  

To that end, I thought this was interesting from his winner’s press conference:

“Yeah, look, I’ve rode my luck all week. And again, I think with the things that I’ve had to endure over the last few years, I think I deserved it. [He laughed here.] So, yeah, anytime I hit it in the trees this week, I had a gap. Even the second shot on 7 today, which I probably shouldn’t have taken on. Harry was telling me not to. I was like, ‘No, no, I can do this.’

“So I rode my luck all week, and you need that little bit of luck to win these golf tournaments.”

6. The comments on caddie Harry Diamond in the press conference were emotional. They came after this question from Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch.

You and Harry grew up together in a tiny town playing childhood games together. What does it feel like to have him standing beside you today when you achieved that childhood dream?

“Eamon,” McIlroy started. “Yeah, I’ve known Harry since I was seven years old. I met him on the putting green at Holywood Golf Club. We’ve had so many good times together. He’s been like a big brother to me the whole way through my life.”

Here, McIlroy started to cry.

“To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we’ve had, all the crap that he’s had to take from people that don’t know anything about the game, yeah, this one is just as much his as it is mine.

“He’s a massive part of what I do, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to share it with than him.”

7. So what do folks hope for now, now that McIlroy finally has ended his major drought, won the Masters and completed the grand slam?

My apologies. Only good vibes here. 

8. Pencil in McIlroy to win the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Maybe even do it in pen. He’s won at the course four times. 

9. The U.S. Open’s in play, too, right? Oakmont is brawny, and McIlroy can muscle it. 

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10. And he’ll be the favorite at the Open Championship, too. It’s at Royal Portrush — in Northern Ireland, where McIlroy’s from. 

11. OK, you’ll have a season grand slam to cheer for now.  But I think Scottie Scheffler wins one of these. 

12. Justin Rose, the runner-up, would’ve been a popular winner, too. Vets making another run inspires. For two rounds, Rose had the low score. The other two rounds? It was McIlroy. 

13. Patrick Reed will win a second green jacket at some point, won’t he?

14. Time for a beer. The Top Dawg has a good list. Up first is a Tropicalia from Creature Comforts Brewing Co. out of Athens, Ga. It’s a juicy one, but bitter, too.  

15. Should we be concerned about Scheffler?

I don’t think so. Last year was special. The accident was unlucky. He’s a fraction off. The track record suggests he finds it again soon. The beauty of Scottie Scheffler Ball is that while it may not have shots such as McIlroy’s second on 7 on Sunday or his second on 15 on Sunday, it gives him opportunities again and again. He’ll always be there. 

Then again, golf is fickle. 

16. Full disclosure: On Saturday night, I thought Bryson DeChambeau was going to win. 

He’ll be my second pick for the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. 

17. Why do we care if McIlroy and DeChambeau talked — or didn’t — during the final round?

This exchange between a reporter and DeChambeau was making the rounds on Sunday and Monday, with the reporter’s questions in italics:

Did you speak to him [McIlroy] in there? How is he doing?

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“No idea,” DeChambeau said. “Didn’t talk to me once all day.”

What was the atmosphere like?

“Electric. I loved it,” DeChambeau said. “But he was just like — just being focused, I guess. It’s not me, though.”

Did you try and initiate conversation with Rory at all?

“He wouldn’t talk to me,” DeChambeau said.

18. I’m also not totally touched by Nick Dunlap showing up for his second round a day after shooting a whopping 18-over 90.

I mean, no one will be moved when I log on tomorrow after writing the writing version of Dunlap’s day one. His return showed he’s accountable. But he should be in the first place. 

19. Ludvig Aberg may win a few Masters. He could’ve won this one.  

After following McIlroy, I was a bit shocked to see that Aberg had bogeyed 17 and tripled-bogeyed 18, moving him from 10-under to six.  

20. The lack of at-your-hand information on the course takes a minute to adjust to. Crowds are also thick so you rely on sounds — claps are good shots, cheers are great shots, oohs are usually bad shots. The manual scoreboard updates elicit similar reactions. 

21. Max Homa’s tie for 12th was his best finish since last May. Early in the week, he said his funk started at last year’s Masters. 

22. Jon Rahm tied for 14th. There’s conversation that his game has slipped since the move to LIV, but I’d like to see a bigger sample size than four events. In those, he’s tied for 45th (last year’s Masters), missed the cut (last year’s PGA Championship), withdrawn (last year’s U.S. Open, due to a foot injury) and tied for seventh (last year’s Open Championship). 

23. Back-to-back grand slam completions would be fun. Jordan Spieth, who tied for 14th at the Masters, remains without a PGA Championship. He typically skips the PGA Tour event held annually at Quail Hollow, but he finished 28th at the 2017 PGA held there. 

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24. Back-to-back-to-back grand slam completions would also be fun. Phil Mickelson, who missed the cut at the Masters, remains without a U.S. Open. He’s played two U.S. Opens at Oakmont, finishing 47th in 1994 and missing the cut in 2016. 

25. To mix things up, I like asking, we’ll call them, different questions in press conferences. Good conversation is a two-way street — and to get a good quote, you have to ask a good question. Anyways, I enjoyed my exchange with Viktor Hovland, with my question in italics:

I listened to your appearance on the UAP podcast, and I was curious how questioning things like UAPs and UFOs helps you on the golf course and then vice versa?

“Man, I don’t know how to answer that,” Hovland said, “but yeah, it’s just an interest of mine, and obviously it’s become somewhat of a topic in the news, and it really comes down to kind of what is ontological truth and how we view reality itself.

“I think it’s just interesting when you have an open mind and you question anything. “I think even in the golf swing, you can get very dogmatic and you look at things as, oh, this has to be a truth, this has to be correct, and sometimes the beliefs that you hold the most deeply can obfuscate yourself. When you question things and look at things from different angles, you might get to a deeper truth.

“I think that’s just a fascinating endeavor to engage in, and hopefully it leads you closer to the right direction, but that’s kind of the fun of it.”

Do you ever find yourself having to pause going down certain rabbit holes or anything like that?

“Pause? It’s more like, OK, I know this is getting into territory that’s very speculative,” Hovland said. “But I think as long as you have an objective kind of mindset while looking into this information, I think it’s just fun.

“You don’t have to live and die by every word you read or thing you hear. It’s more like you observe it from a different place, an objective place, and then you go, hey, maybe this is true, maybe it’s not, and then you put that into a placeholder of, OK, let’s just wait for more information to see if that corroborates what you already read.”

26. The best quote, though, came from this exchange between No Laying Up’s Kevin Van Valkenburg and Gary Player, with Van Valkenburg’s question in italics:

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Gary, in 1997 when Tiger Woods won the Masters, he revealed that he famously ate at Arby’s every single night. I was wondering when the last time you had any fast food was.

“Well, you don’t reach 90 as I do if you eat a bunch of crap,” Player said. “I can tell you that. But that’s your choice. Everybody has a choice. I want to live to 100 because I love people. I love golf. I just love life.

“I’ve got a young girlfriend — I’ve changed my life. How about that, at 90, finding a girlfriend? Tom is not as old as me, but he’s also found a new one. I’ll tell you what, guys, you all — you or your wife is going to die. One of the spouses are going to die, and it’s not the end of life. So many people that does happen and they get so disheartened that they don’t think they should continue life. The greatest gift bestowed upon a man or woman is life. So my ambition is to reach 100.

“So I went to India and I met a gerontologist, and he gave me 11 things to work on, which I adhere to. So I might drop dead tomorrow, but I’m giving it a hell of a try.”

27. Did we just watch maybe one of the best Masters ever? The winner. The leaderboard. The finish. All great. 

28. The answer that Masters and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley gave in response to a question about the return of Angel Cabrera didn’t go far enough. Cabrera was playing his first Masters since 2019 due to a conviction for domestic assault and intimidation of two former partners.

Said Ridley: “Well, we certainly abhor domestic violence of any type. As it relates to Angel, Angel has served the sentence that was prescribed by the Argentine courts, and he is the past champion, and so he was invited.”

29. Given his age and lack of distance, did Bernhard Langer play the best at the Masters?

30. A moment you might not have seen during Langer’s final round was that he yawned on the 18th tee. Nerveless.  

31. When it comes, the Fred Couples farewell on 18 may see as many patrons as you would for the Sunday leaders. 

32. On Wednesday afternoon, a security guard was interested that I worked for GOLF.com, then proceeded to tell me that the “king of Augusta” is Couples. 

“He’s always so jovial,” she said.  

33. Let’s keep walking around the course. The tree damage from Hurricane Helene was noticeable, though I’m not sure it affected play much, outside of some bounciness on the new greens. 

Rahm, though, said in a press conference that “somebody” told him that you could now hit a high cut over the cabins on 10. Hmm. Golf Digest’s Jamie Kennedy showed what that would potentially look like.

34. Among the celebs I saw: former NBA player J.R. Smith, baseball hall of famer Ken Griffey Jr. — and a guy who really looked like Pau Gasol. I thought it was him. Analyst and instructor Mark Immelman, whom I was with, didn’t think so. 

35. Among the things I overheard: “This girl I know dated Neal Shipley.” Shipley was last year’s low amateur. 

36. I’m still forever fascinated by folks who come to golf tournaments dressed as if they’re going to be called upon to play. One dude’s golf pants — the kind the pros wear; not basic khakis — made me think of this. 

37. The Augusta National gift shop remains an engineering marvel to me. The line is long, but yet you move through it quickly and nothing ever seems out of stock.  

38. Almost home, so time for a second beer. I’m going with a Chance from Wild Leap out of LaGrange, Ga. Another juicy IPA, but not overpowering. 

39. Here are a few of my favorite reads this week from the GOLF.com staff. From my batch, I spent a bunch of hours watching videos and reading interviews in an attempt to learn about what I call Scottie Scheffler Ball. You can read that story here. 

40. Anything Michael Bamberger writes is great, but this one, on Fred Couples, was a favorite. 

41. From Alan Bastable, a look at how Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood watched the proceedings on Sunday was a favorite.  

42. From Josh Berhow, a profile of Augusta National Women’s Amateur competitor Rachel Heck was a favorite.  

43. From James Colgan, a profile of CBS’ Jim Nantz was a favorite.  

44. From Dylan Dethier, a story on Diamond was a favorite.  

45. From Zephyr Melton, his game story on the Augusta National Women’s Amateur was a favorite. 

46. From Claire Rogers, a look at a Masters step count was a favorite.  

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47. From Johnny Wunder, a look at the gear trucks on site was a favorite.  

48. From Sean Zak, a look at McIlroy’s buildup to Sunday was a favorite.  

49. Our “Seen and Heard” franchise, put together by Emma Devine and Darren Riehl, is excellent. You can watch the Masters episodes here, here, here, here and here. 

50. What’s left?

Sandwich rankings, of course. First, a word on my tastes, to give you a sense of where I’m coming from. I’m simple. My dad was a meat cutter, so I’m very meat and potatoes. — and most of my meals look like they come off the Masters menu already.

With that, here’s the 2025 breakdown:

– Chicken: To me, it was bigger this year and a little more spicy. 

– Chicken salad: It wasn’t as dry as years’ past.

– Sausage biscuit: Great, but the biscuit was a little flaky.

– Savory tomato pie: The newcomer. I hope it stays. It had good crust, the tomato was decent, and it wasn’t too big. It was a good snack item.

– Barbecue: Good pulled pork barbecue sandwich, but it just needs to be bigger; it’s slider-size.  

– Pimento cheese: It seemed more flavorful this year. The line between good and OK starts about here. 

– Club: Filling. I’m fascinated by it being on a hamburger bun. 

– Chicken biscuit: Bigger, too, but flaky. 

– Ham and cheese on rye: Just not a fan of rye bread. Cheese was good. 

– Egg salad: It was kinda bland. 

Should you be curious, here is last year’s ranking: Georgia peach ice cream, breakfast, barbecue, pimento, chicken biscuit, club, ham and cheese on rye, chicken, chicken salad and egg salad. 

Big move, it appears for the chicken sandwich. 

51. Tuesday morning, I’m spending time with the Green Jackets. 

The minor league baseball Green Jackets, of course. 

I’ve been wanting to see the Augusta club in previous visits, but they’ve been out of town. This year, though, they open a series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, and I have a ticket. If the game is as good as the team’s logo, it should be a hoot. 

Editor’s note: The author wrote similar stories from the 2024, 2023 and 2022 Masters, and they can be found here, here and here.