Rory McILroy is barely a week and a half from The decisive victory of his professional lifeAnd he always rides the shock waves and takes place on the glory of a green jacket.
“It is not every day that you can achieve one of your life and dreamy goals,” he said on Wednesday, “and I really tried to take advantage of everything that comes with that.”
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The victory of the Masters is one of the most notable in the history of recent golf course, and in McILroy, who spent more than 10 years trying to win a major and a life trying to win the masters, it is because it was not only golf.
“I think people can sometimes see themselves in the fight, and everything you try to get the most out of you on this trip,” he said. “I think people who watch someone finally do it, something they have been trying to do for a more decade, I think it resonated with a lot of people.”
Although he now has a new fancy jacket, he also has day work, and that brought him to New Orleans this weekend for the Zurich Classic. He and his teammate / best friend of the Ryder Cup Shane Lowry are the defending champions during the pairs event, and they hope to reproduce the success that made them sing “Do't't Stop Believin '” Karaoke last year:
“This tournament last year was a really cool moment for the two of us. I think he probably injected a little joy in the golf course for me in one way or another, which, I think, is really, really important, not to lose that,” said McILroy. “I had an excellent year last year, and I think this tournament was in a way the catalyst of the very good golf course that I played for the rest of the year.”
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Last year's event released 116,000 fans at TPC Louisiana, and the version of this year should correspond to this number since McILroy is on the field … and stayed in the tournament despite the Masters' victory.
Lowry laughed at it, saying that he remembered 15 to Augusta National on Sunday, looking at the ranking and pointing out to his shopping cart that Zurich's date could be in doubt. “If things were not going on in his sense, I don't think he would like to be here,” said Lowry, “and I thought if things were going on, he wanted to be elsewhere. But I'm glad he was there.”
“It was one of the things Shane told me that night, like” you always want to come and play Zurich? “” Said McILroy. “I said, absolutely. We defend a title. We had so much fun last year here. Obviously, it is important for me to honor this commitment.”
The two recalled their Sunday in Augusta. Lowry was in the running, but played the tournament with a ugly Sunday 81.
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“Honestly, it was one of the strangest days for me because you try to win the masters yourself,” he recalls, “but then when one of your close friends does it, you have no other choice than to be happy for him because it is a great opportunity. I think it is a great opportunity for golf, for everyone in golf.”
“I think all day on Sunday in Augusta, I don't think I should play a more difficult golf round in my life,” said McILroy. “I certainly don't want to be put back on this 15th Tee box this Sunday afternoon.”
After surviving the 15th – and a few other challenges in addition to that – McILroy finally claimed the green jacket. Since then, he heard two presidents and a range of sports and cultural characters, transported by plane across the ocean, and must now understand what to do with the rest of his golf life.
“I think Rory's goals are, who cares?” Lowry joked, throwing his hands. “He can relax for a while.”
“I care about it,” insisted McILroy, and no one doubts. However, for the first time in more than a decade, the pressure is deactivated … At least until the next middle finger takes place, and the speech of a large slam of 2025 increases.
