Last year, Rory McIlroy arrived in the Crescent City with a desire to win with his friend Shane Lowry.
A year later, he arrives in New Orleans, with a Green Jacket and a cold, but still with the same desire, to win with his friend.
After seeing the putt drop in the first hole of a Masters playoff, McIlroy let the emotions flow out of his body.
After getting the Green Jacket, 38 regular, and surviving the celebration, McIlroy was off with his wife Erica and daughter Poppy off to London to oversee the construction of their new house. He then went to see Mom and Dad at home in Holywood, Northern Ireland.
McIlroy has made the time since the win at Augusta amazing celebrating with his lifelong coach, Michael Bannon, his caddie, Harry, his wife, and many friends.
The cold McIlroy presumes is from all the post Masters traveling and even though he was so sick that he barely could get out of bed on Monday, the most recently crowned Career Grand Slam recipient stood with Lowry to talk to the media on Wednesday.
“If you had asked me a year ago if I’d be sitting here in this position and everything that’s happened, I honestly could not be in a better place in my life professionally, personally, all of it,” McIlroy said. “It’s amazing what a year can do. This tournament last year was a really cool moment for both of us. I think it probably injected a little bit of joy back into golf for me in some way, which I think is really, really important, not to lose that.”
With Zurich being the only team event on the PGA Tour, McIlroy sees this week as a way to work himself back into competitive golf after what happened in Augusta.
He’s still processing what happened. While he found a way to get it done, he wants the result to cushion future challenges and add to his confidence.
“It’s a perfect tournament to come back to, just good positive vibes from last year.” McIlroy said of the benefits of returning to Zurich, “I don’t know if it gives me more confidence. I’ve always been very confident in my abilities as a golfer. I do think that the whole day on Sunday at Augusta, I don’t think I’ll have to ever play a harder round of golf in my life. I certainly don’t want to be placed back on that 15th tee box on that Sunday afternoon. So, I think to be able to get through that and produce the shots when I needed to, that obviously gives me confidence, and I can always draw back on that experience.”
It’s hard to speculate what four days of golf will mean for the two, but McIlroy has learned that his priorities and goals are constantly changing.
One goal that McIlroy has had since the beginning of the year, if not earlier, is a positive Team Europe splash at Bethpage Black.
“I think one shared goal that we both have is winning at Bethpage,” McIlroy said. “That would be an unbelievable way to cap off the year.”
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