Rory McIlroy wins The Masters: What was it like to be at Augusta National to witness Grand Slam history? | Golf Newsnews24

What was it like to be at Augusta National to witness Rory McIlroy win The Masters and complete the career Grand Slam? Sky Sports’ Ali Stafford reflects on a day that will go down in sporting history…

As an official on the first tee slides out the names of Corey Conners and Patrick Reed from the mini leaderboard, there’s a flurry of noise and a shout of “let’s go Rory!” as McIlroy’s name is slotted in.

McIlroy stands alone on the putting green and other than an occasional word with caddie Harry Diamond, blocks out everything around him. He’s fully focused, whereas Bryson DeChambeau is all smiles and engaging with fans as he walks to the first tee.

Very few can get a clear view but nobody really cares, they just want to soak up the moment and be as close as they can to the action. “I’ll watch this properly on TV tomorrow,” says one patron, holding two cups of the Crow’s Nest beer only served at The Masters.

It’s hard to work out where either opening tee shots have gone, with no loud reaction from those further down the hole suggesting both have missed the fairway. McIlroy marches down with purpose towards his ball, which is in the bunker and leaves him pitching out.

I slalom through the crowds and make it to the green for McIlroy’s third shot, where the patrons around me struggle to judge the ball in the air. “Get there! No, sit! Bite!” are three cries from the same person as McIlroy finishes 20 feet from the hole and leaves work for his par.

McIlroy circles the hole and backs off, with his routine seemingly taking longer than what we are accustomed to seeing. Nerves? Almost certainly, although standing directly in line with him, it’s seemingly a tricky putt to judge the pace of.

He knocks it so far past that he doesn’t lose his turn, with a cry of “oh my god” made as he also misses the effort coming back. A two-shot lead gone in one hole and roars of “USA! USA!” heard as DeChambeau powers through the walkthrough to the next tee.

The second green is rammed, with one taller patron helping those around him – me included – to identify where the two balls have ended up. “Bryson is about 70 feet away and Rory’s shot should’ve been closer” is his verdict, with DeChambeau there in two and McIlroy taking a further shot after having to lay up.

McIlroy is applauded for his outside birdie try, which has the pace but stops alongside the hole. It’s only a par. I then listen to wait on the outcome of DeChambeau’s birdie attempt, with the shout from those in front of me blocking the view enough to know he has made it and into the lead.

I trudge back across the course towards the press building stunned at the start, wondering whether McIlroy’s major hopes had been derailed in record time. By the time I return to my seat, a two-shot swing at the third had put McIlroy back in front.

Another two-shot swing on the par-three fourth sees McIlroy increase his lead to three, with a stunning shot from the trees at the seventh and back-to-back birdies from the ninth seemingly having him in control. He dominates the patron support at this point, having been more of an even split between the final pairing earlier in the day.

A colleague called his golf-loving father on one of Augusta’s free pay-phones near the 13th, telling him to open the Champagne and – with McIlroy four clear – celebrate an inevitable victory. The wedge shot that followed sent shockwaves around the course and put the bubbles back on ice.

Those sat by one of the closing holes could hear noise from elsewhere but have to second guess what it is, with the lack of phones making access to information and updates severely limited. As the big leaderboard changes McIlroy’s score from -13 to -11, stunned gasps are let out and many patrons are left with head in hands.

Another dropped shot at the next sees McIlroy lose top spot and – from seemingly nowhere and seven back – puts Justin Rose into the outright lead. Where has this plot twist come from?! “I feel sick,” says one patron, wearing green and with a thick accent from McIlroy’s home nation.

I get back to the press building just in time to watch McIlroy’s approach into the par-five 15. Oh my word! One journalist punches the table in excitement and there’s a growing noise from the media – all seemingly watching on different feeds – as McIlroy delivers one of the shots of his career and sets up a glorious eagle chance.

The two-putt birdie and another at the 17th gets back McIlroy in front heading to the 72nd hole, before an impressive tee shot leaves him with just a wedge left for his second. The umpteenth rewrite of the report intro seems safe – McIlroy will make par or better from here, surely?!

The hum in the air turns to silence from the patrons – at least 30 deep – as McIlroy shockingly sends his ball into the greenside bunker, only for him to flip confidence levels again by splashing out of the sand and watch his ball feed closer and closer to the hole.

“This feels like Pinehurst again,” says one journalist, referencing last June’s US Open and pacing around like an expectant father, as McIlroy has a putt from inside five feet for victory. “This could finish him if he doesn’t get this done,” is the bleak verdict of another, just as McIlroy misses the putt and drops into a play-off.

With the latest report in the bin and everyone gobsmacked by what has unfolded over the past few hours, all we can do is watch with interest to see how McIlroy handles letting another win in regulation slip through his grasp.

Rose – searching for his own fairy-tale ending – piles on the pressure by leaving himself a good look for birdie on the first extra hole, only for McIlroy to create one of the loudest cheers of the day with the approach shot of a lifetime.

With Rose missing his birdie putt to extend the contest, he clears the stage for his Ryder Cup team-mate to close out history. Every single patron lifts their arms aloft to celebrate as McIlroy converts the close-range birdie required, where he immediately falls to his knees and bursts into tears.

We’ve seen emotion from McIlroy before, but nothing like this. These are different tears. The burden of competing the career Grand Slam over, the wait for Augusta glory ended and the demons of his final-round collapse – some 14 years ago – finally gone.

The tears continue to flow as he shares hugs with his wife Erica and daughter Poppy. The excitement of the patrons is palpable as McIlroy walks through, struggling to regain composure.

Ryder Cup team-mates and their partners are among the first to congratulate him before he gets to slip on the Green Jacket, something we’ve seen him wearing in superimposed images before but not – until now – in real life.

It’s little surprise to see McIlroy get such a warm welcome from the media as he enters the press building, having given us the Hollywood ending we wondered whether they would ever get to cover. Tiger Woods aside, this man moves the needle unlike any other in golf!

An emotional McIlroy discusses the resilience he has talked up so much in recent months, a topsy-turvy final day and a desire to get back to Northern Ireland to see his parents, having opened his press conference with a question of his own.

“What are we all going to talk about next year?!” McIlroy said, a reference to how his Grand Slam pursuit had dominated build-up over the previous decade. Don’t worry, Rory, we’ll think of something!

It’ll take some time to truly appreciate the significance of Sunday. McIlroy’s win threw golf onto the front pages, produced record viewing numbers and saw a generational talent cement his place – if he wasn’t already destined to be – as one of golf’s all-time greats.

When McIlroy won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last April, he celebrated his team success with Shane Lowry by giving a rendition of ‘Don’t Stop Believin”. To quote that 80s karaoke classic by Journey, those who were there to witness history in Augusta will ‘hold on to that feelin” for many years to come.

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