After a nervous start for both on the final round of the Masters the Texan settled to play his game but McIlroy’s challenge died
They say a Green Jacket costs around $250, though no one who knows will confirm that. Money talks in Augusta, same as anywhere, but Augusta does not like to talk money. Certainly they are made in Cincinnati by the Hamilton Tailoring Co, from tropical wool, pantone 342, three buttons, double‑breasted, with the owner’s name stitched on the inside. And there is nothing, certainly not in the game of golf, that Rory McIlroy wants more. This was McIlroy’s fourth run at finishing the career grand slam and the most painful to watch of the lot because it was his best chance yet.
McIlroy was right where he wanted to be on Sunday, in the final group, and, though he was three shots off Patrick Reed at the start, that at least meant he could freewheel as he did not have a lead to hang on to. “I’ve been waiting for this chance,” he said on Saturday night, and a long time, too. This was his first time in the final pair since 2011, when he blew up on the 10th. “That was a huge turning point in my career. It was the day that I realised I wasn’t ready to win major championships and I needed to reflect on that and realise what I needed to do differently.”
Related: Patrick Reed: a Masters champion unlikely to win a popularity contest
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