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.
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?
“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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
