Last year, Rory McIlroy finally captured his first green jacket after winning the Masters in a playoff over Justin Rose. His experience at Augusta National is much different this year than what he’s used to. For starters, he hosted the annual Champions Dinner with his own personal menu. He’s able to walk into the champions locker room on the grounds now, too.
There’s still plenty of eyes on McIlroy this week as he looks to defend his Masters title. If he’s successful, the Irishman would become just the fourth golfer ever to win back-to-back Masters titles. His first round is putting him on the right track to accomplish this feat.
McIlroy finished Thursday’s round with a score of 67, putting him tied for first with Sam Burns as of the time his round concluded. For comparison, McIlroy opened up last year’s championship run with a score of 72, but climbed up the leaderboard with back-to-back scores of 66 in the second and third rounds. Him posting a 67 is pretty good when stacking it up against last year’s winning performance.
After the round, McIlroy sat down with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt to review how he played.
“I didn't drive the ball particularly well but I was able to make pars and scramble well, then from the 8th hole I started to string a few good swings together,” McIlroy said.
Van Pelt then asked the five-time major champion what he plans to do Thursday night to keep himself in a good mindset heading into Friday. McIlroy responded with one heck of a plan—and one that he couldn’t have enjoyed just last year.
“I'll probably go up there [champions locker room] right now and have a little drink, put my green jacket on, and then call it a day,” McIlroy said.
Don’t mind us being extremely jealous of his post-round plan.
Putting jealously aside, think about how long McIlroy’s been waiting to speak this sentence into existence. He had 11 years of pressure on him to win the Masters title to officially complete his career grand slam. McIlroy won plenty of titles after the 2014 Open (his last major win before last year’s Masters), but it took him over a decade to be in the winning circle at a major.
He’s waited quite a while to be allowed in and out of the champions locker room. It wouldn’t be surprising if he ends every round of this year’s Masters, and beyond, in there relaxing. And, he’ll take whatever opportunity he can to sport his green jacket. Augusta National is the perfect place to wear it.
More Masters coverage from Sports Illustrated
- Bryson & Rahm Struggling? Biggest Masters Day 1 Surprises
- Robert MacIntyre Makes Obscene Gesture in Dreadful First Round at Masters
- Golf Quiz: Name All 18 Unique Holes at Augusta National
- 2026 Masters Second Round Scores, Live Updates: Scottie Scheffler Looking to Chase Down Leaders
- Bryson DeChambeau Brought a 3D-Printed Club to the Masters. Things Could Be Going Better.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy Detailed an Iconic Post-First Round Plan After Impressive 5-Under Finish.
