It was 12 months ago that Rory McIlroy pulled up a chair in the walnut-lined auditorium of Augusta National and opened with a question of his own: what will we talk about next year? Back in that same seat on Tuesday, cloaked in his green coat, the answer revealed itself in tales of dry-cleaning, parking and plants.
Because what else is there to chat about? Or framed slightly differently, how does the McIlroy narrative recalibrate itself when that thing we discussed for the better part of two decades was buried beneath ground under the immense weight of a four-foot putt.
And so it was a different kind of conversation to tee up his 18th visit to the Masters. No, he hasn’t washed his jacket yet. And yes, he can name a few of the flowers around this place. And no, he couldn’t tell us for certain if he had ever seen a golden bell behind the 12th green.
He smiled through all of that and he smiled even more when he spoke about the kind of worries that stopped being a factor around this time last April. One of them involved parking dilemmas and he shared a little story to go with it.
This is how it went: ‘Last year, myself and Justin Rose actually went for dinner at the club on the Tuesday night with a few of the Augusta National members.
‘I was pulling up Magnolia Lane and at that specific moment, the past champions were having their cocktails out on the balcony. I’m like, “I don’t want to get out, they’re going to see me and it’s going to be weird”. So I had this really awkward moment with it all last year.’
Rory McIlroy is back at Augusta a year after winning the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam
That moment was a great catharsis for McIlroy and he had a spring in his step on Tuesday
His pay-off to that yarn was that it was a problem of his past, because on Tuesday evening he would be hosting the Champions Dinner and watching some other poor sap from the balcony. He would be smelling the flowers.
And that is the way it is for him now, a year on from the great catharsis. But here’s the thing with McIlroy – he’s an impatient sort. Twitchy. Laying-up and taking the safe play? We saw how he botched one of those on the 13th on that wild Sunday last April. Taking the big swing? That’s his style and we can all remember his booming, impossible hook around the pines to the 15th green.
All of which is to say our conversation didn’t stay on flowers for long. Because what else is there to talk about? Well, that would be more. More titles. And more titles here in particular.
McIlroy is 36 now and, by his expectations, that haul of five majors and one Grand Slam won’t be the point at which the music stops.
There have been times in the past 12 months when we have wondered, albeit briefly, if that masterpiece might sap some of the drive, because goodness knows there were long months in its wake when McIlroy was grumpy, irritable and played well beneath his level. Even today, there are murmurs about his form after a back injury last month.
But there is a spring in his step here, underlined by what he said about the forthcoming chapters of his career.
‘I think the story as it relates to me is what do I do from now onwards? What gets me going? What do I still want to achieve in the game? I think that’s the story now,’ he said.
‘There’s still a lot that I want to do. You think every time you achieve something that you’ll be happy, but then the goalposts move, and they just keep nudging a little further out of reach.
‘I think what I’ve realised is, if you can just really find enjoyment in the journey, that’s the big thing because honestly I felt like the career grand slam was my destination, and I got there, and then I realised it wasn’t the destination.’
Despite being 36 and with a haul of five majors to his name McIlroy is hungry for more success
That destination, it became clear, was another green jacket. That he shed the gorilla from his back last April will presumably help. He certainly thinks so.
Asked which of the four majors represents his best chance of future success, he said: ‘I think this one. I think when you’ve had the experiences that I’ve had around here, good and bad, I think that can stand for you.
‘I feel like I’m still young, but I’m very experienced. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I feel like I’ve got another 10 good shots at this. Not that I don’t at the other majors, but I just think that everything here is a little more predictable. You know the golf course and the more experience you have here, the better. That’s why I think here.
‘I know I can do it now so that should make it a little easier to go out and play the golf I want to play.’
Time will tell on that and reminders of McIlroy’s time on this course were illustrated by the draw sheet – he will play the first two rounds with Cameron Young and the 18-year-old American amateur Mason Howell, who was born only two years before McIlroy made his Masters debut.
With grey flecks in his hair, McIlroy is a generation removed from that sort of youth. It would seem he is also a long way short of declaring himself satisfied.
