Rory McIlroy: ‘I never want to feel like that again on the golf course’ 😲 Masters champ opens up

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Rory, I love the jacket. Thank you. I love it, too. How often do you break it out? Uh, not as often as I thought I would. Um, I think the last time I wore it was um I wore it in Abu Dhabi a couple weeks ago, but I wore it on Halloween. My daughter Poppy wanted to be Galinda from Wicked, so I was the Wizard of Oz, and he wears a green jacket, so thought it was appropriate. But um I thought honestly I thought I’d never take it off but you sort of you know it it becomes normal and um but it’s always a nice excuse to put it back on. Adam in polite company. What’s the most fun you’ve had with your jacket through the years? Uh well it’s a few years ago since I got to wear it around like Rory did, but I brought it down here and that was a lot of fun. I actually just like kind of leaving it over the back of the couch at home when I was there and guests had come over and they couldn’t believe the green jacket was just lying around. Uh it’s just such a fun thing to have for this year while you’re the champion. Mim, is it is it something that you aspire to? Does it have a hold on the the new generation as it has done so many before? Exactly. Um I don’t know why I’m here. Uh um but yes, of course. Uh hopefully one day. Rory, first impressions of Royal Melbourne. We’ve seen uh you attracted a good crowd even on a Monday and a Tuesday. Yeah. Um yeah, it’s like I think the golf here in in the sand belt in in Melbourne is is some of the best golf in the world. And um I’ve only played uh Kingston Heath and and Hunting Deal really. So, um, to get a chance to to at least play the front line today at Royal Melbourne was was a real treat. And, um, I’ve watched, you know, plenty of tournaments there over the years. And, um, it’s it’s amazing. You know, it really is. Um, such an iconic golf course. And, you know, I can’t wait to to get started this week. What are the qualities that you were looking forward to seeing and you’ve had your first little glimpse of? Yeah, I think um the greens are very uh very undulating. You can get some very interesting hole positions. Um you know, honestly not too dissimilar to Augusta National, some of the greens. Uh and then just the bunkering and um just the visuals as well. It’s such a different style of golf here than than um you know, sort of around the rest of the world. And you know hopefully as the weather continues to get better as the week goes on you know we can get some firm and fast conditions over the weekend which is I think what everyone wants. So you know the sand belt well Adam what what is it that most appeals to you as you’ve played it in various guises through the years. I think it really just gives you a lot of options to play shots. Um you know and you risk a lot if you’re aggressive and want to fire near the pin. You can play conservative and and leave yourself a challenging putt. Uh and you kind of just have to really manage your game very well. A little bit like Augusta. Um same designers of the golf course, but a little bit like the links as well. There’s a lot more strategy involved on the sand belt than than we usually play week in and week out on the tour. And men for you, what has the sand belt meant to you? I mean, it’s special. It’s special. I don’t get to come to Melbourne too too often. Uh but you know the last time I played was Master of the Amiters an amateur tournament maybe 8 10 years ago. Um and yeah just special to be in front of these guys and play with them and yeah it’s it’s nice to be back in Melbourne and playing in front of the home crowd. Is it something Rory that that you’ve always wanted to do play the sound belt here? Yeah absolutely. Um I played the Aussie Masters in in ‘ 05 and 07 at Huntingale. Um, and the, you know, the and saying that I played the ’05 Australian Open at at Muna Links just down the road, but not quite the sand belt. Um, so yeah, and then all the other Aussie Opens I’ve played have been in Sydney. So, um, yeah, it is it’s it’s nice to be back back in Melbourne and, you know, it’s great that the tournament’s going to be here for the next couple of years. I think there’s a standing invitation to head down to Rosebud Country Club if you want. Um, good good memories. I think I won a um I think it was a seven-way playoff for four spots. Um but yeah, I mean that was that summer in 2005. Um you know, I played the uh I played the the Austral qualified for the Australian Open at Rosebud and did Muna Links, played the Junes Medal and then um and then played the Aussie Masters as well. So there are plenty who play the Dunes Medal in this room. Um but yeah, just I feel like Australia has been such a big part of my my golfing journey and um it’s it’s always great to come back. You are bound together in Australian Open history as well. You you’ve both won it, but 2013 and just going back and watching that that final stretch. So obviously these things break both ways is uh an incredible turn on 18 um for you Adam, how does that how do you reflect uh on that 2013 finish in Sydney? Not so positively really. It It is incredible how quickly it turns because leaving the T- box I felt like that was the challenge of that hole and I had the momentum and you know I just blocked I think it was an eight iron in just a little bit and it rolled off the right side into a spot I I couldn’t deal with and then you leave a door open for a great champion and they and they can take it and it was gone in a flash. um and a bit of a heartbreaker. But just to make myself feel better, the last time we played in a final group together, I think I I won the Genesis tournament in uh in America. So, you know, I I I don’t know if I got my own back on Rory, but it just to make myself feel better, I wanted to say that I was happy for you. Thank you, mate. Thank you, mate. And the one thing I would I just want to add the one thing about that that day. So as Adam sort of described the last hole um I hold the pot and win and uh Stevie Williams was on his bag and I have never had a harder I thought he broke my hand on the 18th grade. I’ve never had a harder handshake in my life. So, I don’t know if that was a just a really big congratulations or if there was a bit of a bit of resentment in there, but um that’s one thing I’ll remember about that green. It had a lot going for it. You were trying to complete the triple crown of the Australian summer. You hadn’t won for the 12 months. Is how big a win was that to I mean, you were the world number one, so they weren’t Baron times, but to go through that year and to get the win right at the end to set up for what was to come next. Yeah, I think um 2013 was a was a tough year in my career. I just signed um with Nike. I was was with Titalist and then I signed with Nike and that was my first year and I really struggled with the equipment and the the change for the first six months. Um and I had felt like my game was getting a little bit better towards the end of the year. Um but I really do feel like the win in 2013 down here was the catalyst for for what happened in 2014 going on to to win two majors and and having a great season. So I always say that um you know and I I look back on my career and and you know I look at my trophy case and I see that Stone Haven Cup it means a little bit more to me than some of the other trophies just because I really do feel like that week set me up for what was a great 2014. So this year you come and it’s been the most remarkable season. So it’s got the players and the Masters and then the Irish Open and the Ryder Cup and the the race to Dubai. So, the work is not quite finished, but it is December. When you reflect on what you’ve achieved this year, how do you sum it up? Uh, yeah. I mean, like I I it’s it’s been the the year of my dreams really. Um, you know, I’ve I’ve waited so long to try to complete that career grand slam and to to finally get over that line. Um but then al also all of the other stuff, you know, winning a players championship and um being part of a European Rder Cup team to win um in America was was something that I really wanted to to do and be a part of and that was that was amazing. Um yeah, no, it it you know, it could, you know, I hope hopefully it’s not, but it it could well go down as the you know, the the sort of highest point or the the best year of my career. I still don’t feel like I’m finished yet and it would be nice to have similar years to this uh in the future, but um I I’ll always look back on 2025 um and and think it was, you know, the top or if not near the top of of what I’ve done in the game. There probably hadn’t been a Monday morning with the Masters in Australia since it was Adam’s turn. And everyone in this room will have ridden the emotions with you, but not quite so graphically as you would have felt them. How vivid is the back nine for you when you think back on it? Um, some of it’s a blur. Um, some of it I’ve tried to forget and some of it I’ve tried to to keep in the memory bank. Um yeah, like the you know, you know, whenever I go back and I watch the highlights of the back nine, I sort of fast forward through 13 and 14. I just sort of like to watch the good bits. But um yeah, it’s uh yeah, I I can still I I I remember the feeling over the shot on 15 and um yeah, I do I I remember all of it. I’ve tried not to watch it back too much because I feel like when you watch it back a lot, you don’t remember it through your eyes and through your feelings. You remember it through watching what you’ve seen on TV. So, I’ve tried not to watch it back too much, but um every time I see sort of that scene on the 18th screen, it still gets me a little emotional and choked up because I, you know, when you’ve wanted something for so long and it finally comes and um you know, just that release of emotion, very very cool. So 15’s the shot of a lifetime. 17 is go go go. 18’s into the sand and then you have to go to the playoff file. We did ride the emotions with you. Can you sum up the turmoil that a man goes through in that 90 minutes? Uh it look honestly it’s I never want to feel like that on a golf course again. It was like your legs are weak. You feel like you want to throw up. Um I Honestly, I felt like the big I I thought going into that day the biggest challenge for me was going to be playing with Bryson and that ended up not being what it was. You know, it sort of that I felt like I overcame that part of it. and you know what happened at Pinehurst the year before and um but just the you know I I said afterwards the battle that day was with myself and I wish like you know I stood on that 12th T with our 13th T with a four or five shot lead and I’d love to be in that position again and see if I could finish it off like the right way. Um, but I think if I was ever going to win the Masters, it was like my journey on in that tournament, like I was there was never going to be a way that I won the Masters where it was going to be like smooth sailing. It was always going to be this sort of roller coaster and um it probably was the the appropriate way for it to happen. Um, but I’, you know, I’, you know, the nice thing is with winning the Masters, you get to go back every year and I’ I’d love to have another chance to to win another one. Adam, you sit here as proof that these things are defining is you’ll carry that for the rest of your lives and we revel in it. The come on Aussie put, which looked like the winner on 18 and then two holes later it has to happen again on 10. When you reflect back on your M’s experience, how how vivid is it for you? Um, yeah, I think I think it’s a it’s a bit longer than Rory has to look back on mine. It’s uh it’s a few years ago, but certainly those playoff holes, they’re very vivid. The one thing I really remember and probably really helped me. I came from a very different position than Rory in that tournament. I I never thought about winning until the 17th fairway that day. I was kind of trailing and and just chipped away and chipped away and found myself with the lead on 17. And that’s the first time and luckily for me it was late in the day and I managed to hold it together because it’s not easy to keep it all together even playing well in these situations and the pressure and and your expectation of yourself and fulfilling your dreams and all this kind of stuff is you’re fighting all that somehow to get it in the clubhouse. And uh but the playoff going down 10, every time I walk down 10, now I can take myself back to that playoff. It was low, cloudy, rainy, but it felt it felt a little bit like a football match at that point. Like it was raw raw golf fans out there um just loving this battle and we played some good golf shots in that environment and it was a really special feeling. So every time I walk down 10, you know, I I go back to that back left corner and, you know, thank my lucky stars that I made a part there. And do you cherish that this the beautiful shot as you got your jacket, arms outstretched in front of the remaining galleries and the the photographers, rains falling like it’s cinematic. Um do do you cherish that that you lived that experience? Oh, absolutely. Augusta National just has a way of providing these kind of things every year for every champion. You know, Rory describing how he felt on 18. It was so late in the day when uh the playoff finished for me. There wasn’t presentation ceremony or a traditional one and they just Bubba and I walked out. There was no formalities and Bubba just placed the jacket on me late and somehow got that shot and it’s an incredible shot that uh you know I have at home hanging up. It’s it’s really it’s really unreal that that that was the shot I got from winning the Masters. Me and earlier this year you win in Houston, your first win on the PGA Tour and you have to live the experience. Water on 16 over the back at 18. the commentaries made of the right stuff. What’s a moment like that worth to you as you as you lay the foundations on your career? Yeah. Um, you know, same same kind of uh it was uh a dream of mine to win a PJ tournament. Uh these guys have won I don’t know like 80 combined. So, um 1% there. Rory. Uh no, it was a special feeling. Um, Scottish Heffler was behind me and Rory was behind me. So, uh, that was probably the better feeling than winning the tournament, beating Rory is the first probably the first time this year. So, all my career. So, no, it’s pretty nice. Um, no, it was Yeah, I was um, yeah, it was nerve-wracking. Yeah, you can see I was on 16, hit in the water, uh, which wasn’t fun. Um, but again, wanted to throw up. you know, one of those drives you’ve been driving it so well and then just a little slip and you’re in the water and uh these guys are breathing down my neck and uh yeah, it just got really tense and really close and um yeah, it was nice to get the trophy at the end. A lot of uh emotions kind of relieved then and uh yeah, it’s just something that you’ve dreamed about and uh worked hard for. What do you go through in the aftermath of of a breakthrough win like that? Couple beers, I think. Uh just uh I mean it’s so exhausting like even having you know you want to celebrate and go out. I live in Vegas now and I flew over there and it’s like you have no energy to go out. Uh but just reflecting and um yeah just give yourself a pat on the back and have a nice sleep I think. What about when all your dreams come true, Rory? And that ambition to to join the big five and you join Jean Sar and Ben Hogan and Gary Player and Jack Nicholas, Tiger Woods, and now Rory Mroy. What’s it like when all a man’s dreams come true? Uh, look, it’s a it’s an amazing feeling um when it happens. Um, and obviously that that sort of afterglow lasts for for quite a while, but then you have to realize that life goes on and um you have to enjoy it. But at the same time, I’ve always been a goal setter and I feel like my um I can get a little bit lost if I don’t have, you know, a direction or something that I’m striving towards. And honestly, I’d say for the for the couple of months after the masters, I felt a little bit directionless. I was just trying to enjoy it so much, but you know, four weeks go by and you’re trying to get ready for the next major championship and, you know, it just time goes on and and you have to reassess your goals and and reset. And I probably didn’t do as good a job of that as I as I could have. Um, but I sort of can give myself a pass, I think, um, to enjoy myself for a couple weeks. So yeah, it’s I sort of had that same feeling um back in 2012 when I first got to world number one. It was a goal of mine for the season starting off in 2012 and I I ended up getting to world number one like at the end of February. So it was like this really quick ascension and I remember getting up the next morning and being like is this it? You know I thought I didn’t know what you know I thought it was going to change my life. I thought it was going to feel different and it did it didn’t and I was like I have to go and brush my teeth like I did yesterday morning. Like it’s just sort of the same thing. So um but it was a good that was a good lesson and a good reminder that you can have these goals and have things that you want to achieve but then what comes next? And what comes next is well you got to go and do it all over again. And that’s the I think that’s the thing that separates um you know sort of the you know the the good sports people from the ones that want to be great is is that um neverending ambition to just want to try to get better and and do more. So have you defined the next mountain or is that sort of winning another Australian Open? Yes. Nice. [Applause] The phases of your career. So, Adam, I saw you refer to yourself as the old pro. H how are you how are you going as the as the old pro these days? You showed us last week you still got it. Yeah, not not too bad. I just feel old when I sit up here next to these guys. Uh most of the time I’m all right, but um the game still feels good. And you know, I still kind of refocus and reset goals. That’s what I’m out here to do. You’re just like on this neverending journey to get there. You know, Rory’s achieved one of the one of the greatest things you can do in the game, winning the slam. And uh, you know, he’s resetting and going for it. I’m still trying to get all those childhood goals ticked off while I’m still able to play, and I still think I’ve got some big stuff in me. 95 consecutive majors speaks of excellence and and endurance. Does that the quest for a 100 majors to play in a row, does that mean something to you? I don’t know. that wasn’t really on my list when I was a kid. Uh winning majors was and uh I could do a better job at that. But yeah, it it I might get there this year uh if I play the next few majors. And um I I don’t know where those things sit. I don’t I don’t even know how to judge that. I’d like to win another one because, you know, winning one out of a hundred doesn’t sound great. Winning two sounds a lot better. Min for for what you’re doing at the moment. Um the new generation, the capacity to and the desire to entertain. How what does modern golf look like to you as maybe you’ve you’ve seen it and where you take it next? Yeah, I think uh a lot of social media uh kind of grew up in it and um yeah, I think it’s a little different. I don’t know if the boys do their own social media, but you know, I I do my own and, you know, try to make the world a little bit of a funnier and happier place. Um, you know, golf can be pretty pretty tough. You know, all of us travel. Uh, we don’t get to see our friends and family and do regular, you know, weekend activities. Um, and that’s, you know, something I miss as uh as a, you know, young kid. So, uh, just to, you know, be out there and hopefully play good golf. That’s the main first priority. But um but you know, we have a platform to do good things uh and and have fun, so I like to do that. You got to be careful with men because you go out to dinner with him and then the next minute you’re on Tik Tok or Snapchat or something. I got him a couple times. Are you running Tik Tok or Snapchat? Rory, no. I’ll make sure not to be going to dinner with men. Um your phase. So by choice, by thought, you’ve become a statesman for world golf. How have you how have you found that through what have been pretty tumultuous times? Yeah. Um it has. Yeah. The the the landscape of of men’s professional golf um in particular is a it’s a little complicated at the minute. Um, I, you know, I’ve spent some time with Adam on the board of the PJ tour and trying to, um, you know, trying to make that as, as as good as it can be. And, you know, you’ve got these, um, you know, other tours, you know, obviously Liv and I think what Liv has done here in Australia has been amazing. You know, the the the tournament in Adelaide, it looks absolutely incredible and especially in a country that has sort of been starved of like big-time golf events. I think they’ve done a they’ve done a really really good job. Um, but for me it’s just more I just I I didn’t like the fracture in the game more so and and the fact that um the only time that all the best players get to go up against each other are in the four major championships. I feel like it needs to be more than that because um if all the best players in the world are only getting together four times like golf needs to be relevant more than four times a year. Um and and that that’s my big concern. Um I just don’t want it to to rip itself apart and and all of us I mean the majors are always going to be the majors but I think we need big things other than that to you know get us through the get us through the year and be relevant um at least you know once if not twice a month on a on a on a global stage. Like even you know you look at this week we’ve got this tournament here and there’s a tournament happening in South Africa and there’s a tournament happening in the Bahamas and um I don’t know if that you know that divides eyeballs and it would be great if we were all together playing in in one big tournament and you know maybe that maybe that can happen sometime down the road. So um I commend people for you know trying different things and trying trying something new. I don’t think golf was broken to begin with, but um you know hope hopefully we can get there. But it’s it has been a complicated time and um but I think everyone just wants to see the best players in the world compete against each other. So the choices that you make uh significant your presence this week is you won’t be oblivious to it already, but wait till you see what happens Thursday through Sunday. You’re about to experience the best sporting city in the world and you’re going to be its darling. um national opens. So you played in India earlier this year, you win the Irish Open, you’re here for the Australian Open, which you’ve won before. How important are national titles around the world? Yeah, I think the one thing I love about the national opens is they’re um they’re the oldest championships on our game. Um I mean, you just look at the names on the Stone Haven Cup. I mean, it’s a who’s who of um professional golf all the way throughout the years. And I think that’s the one thing that, you know, golf can lean into is its its history and its traditions. And um the national opens have that. And I think that’s a that’s a big selling point. Um and if we can somehow elevate those, you can see it with what the RNA and and the Masters are doing by giving some of these national opens spots in the in the Open Championship and in the Masters. And I think the support of of those two organizations can can only be a good thing for um elevating the profile of of some of these great national opens. The Australian Open for you, Adam. So, you’ve won it. You’ve finished runner up three times since you last won it. How how are these legacy pieces to play in the national open year on year? Yeah, it’s huge tournament for an Aussie. Uh, growing up watching them being played at Royal Melbourne. It’s been so long since we’ve played at national open here. So, this is what going to be one of the highlights of my career really. I think back to the President’s Cup at Royal Melbourne a few years ago. There’s such strong memories for me. So, I’m I’m building this up to be a big weekend here this week. Uh, no matter how I play, hopefully really well. But um you know I think it’s going to be a great week and and they mean so much. I’ve been I’ve won the Aussie Open and that’s sits right up there in my accomplishments. I’ve won the Singapore Open a few times and there’s there’s just a sense of pride winning a national championship. Uh it means so much to that country whether it’s the country you’re from or not. You know, you take that responsibility on to represent them well for that year that you’re the champion. So, I think this uh this week you were lucky with a great field and Rory here and and me and we’re playing together the first couple rounds. So, uh we’re in for a big week and I’m going to savor every moment of playing our national open at Raw Melbourne. Do do you remember the winning part? Like it’s iconic what happened in ‘ 91, isn’t it? Is a 40 foot winner. Yeah, big one. Yeah. Radar. Yeah. No, I remember. I do. And uh you know they’re those they’re those uh strong memories from like my junior days of watching watching these guys play and you know prominent names coming down to play in Australia throughout the ‘9s and they continue they have always but um you know that’s what I remember. So it’s great we have these guys here this week and some kids out there watching. You know it’s going to have a huge impact on them no matter what happens. And men for you. So, tied third a couple of years back. Um, what does the national title mean to you? Yeah, it means a lot. Um, like they said, it’s just uh lots of pride in it, you know. Um, obviously grow growing up in Australia and, you know, living here, it’s uh it’s it’s nice. It would be nice. Um, not much to say extra, but it’ll be nice. Is it Is it a trophy you’d like to have your name etched on before you finished? Yeah, of course. Um, yeah, Rory had to make it harder coming over. So, uh, yeah. No, it’ll be fun. It’ll be fun. Uh, fun week. Uh, it’ll be hectic and, um, yeah, hopefully one of us are holding it. Are we sharing any local knowledge with Rory or are we just find your own way? He knows too much. I’m sure he gets all the help. I’ve actually been thinking about reaching out to a couple of people, but then I’m like, maybe they don’t want me to know. So, um, I’ll, you know, I played the front nine today. Hopefully, I’ll I’ll figure out the back n tomorrow. So, just in your brain when you start to picture Thursday, Friday, and beyond on the holes you’ve played and then having a look, what what do you go through? What do you compute? Everyone in this room plays golf. A lot of them will have played this course. They won’t do it the way you do it, but how will you go about solving the mysteries of Royal Melbourne? Yeah, it is. It’s a very, as as as Adam said, it is a very um strategic golf course and and positional golf course. You It’s quite short by modern standards, but I think with how well designed a lot of the holes are, there’s not a huge opportunity to hit driver. So, you know, really positioning your ball off the tea. Um, and then really getting to know the greens and and knowing, you know, what what pins you can go at, what pins you have to stay safe. Um, I’ll probably still be learning as I go on Thursday and Friday. Um, but obviously these guys have played it a little more, so I can I can sort of, you know, try to follow what they’re doing a little bit on the course as well. But, um, yeah, it’s, um, it’s it’s very strategic, very positional. Um, I think you can get yourself in a lot of trouble very quickly if you’re not careful. So, you know, it could be, you know, play quite conservative the first couple days, just sort of get yourself into the tournament and then, you know, as the week goes on, you get a little bit more comfortable with the golf course, maybe you can take on a few more a few more risks.