“What are we going to talk about next year?”

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The first words out of Rory McIlroy’s mouth after he finally ended his long drought and won the Masters last year was. “What are we going to talk about next year?”

Whether he had an idea or not, it turned out he himself was the answer.

There is always a theme or storyline (a word I’ve come to dislike with the reason why later), entering the hallowed first golf major championship of the year. But this year it was not easy to nail it down. Rory, of course had finally won his first, and became only sixth player ever to win all four majors.  The edge was off that question, it seemed. How about Justin Rose, the Brit who lost to Rory in the playoff to decide the 2025 champ?

Rose had become the people’s choice to breakthrough at age 45, with second place finishes at Augusta four times previously.

Would Scottie Scheffler, the world’s #1 get back to his winning ways?

Whatever you could think of, it lacked real impact and intrigue. But as usual, something, somehow always develops and then we follow the story. The word storyline has always rubbed me the wrong way because it infers that there is a story surrounding every sporting event. Of course there is, but to me, the storyline is always one thing……. the game. If you follow the game, the story develops. That’s why, in my experience covering events, it’s always the same. Let the game come to you. Don’t set an agenda, don’t talk about “storylines”, and then discover that your agenda becomes empty and the game, of all things, leads you to the reason why you’re broadcasting and the reason why the audience is watching. ESPN has always been mediocre in covering events because they establish their agenda, follow it to a fault, and wind up poorly covering whatever they’re covering.

ESPN has the rights to the first two rounds of the Masters which is the truest of the term oxymoron in TV. The Masters is the definition of tradition and class. ESPN tried to cover it with their usual bizarre, over the top style.

Trey Wingo, a distinguished former ESPN reporter criticized his ex-network’s Masters coverage this way: “It doesn’t need all this hyperbolic nonsense……the Masters doesn’t need the sideshow, it doesn’t need the carnival”.

So, this edition of the Masters didn’t need anything more than the four rounds of the golf itself, and as we’ve seen practically all the time, it doesn’t disappoint.

McIlroy started out strong, wound up in a first round tie at 5-under par with Sam Burns. But the second day saw Rory go wild, six birdies in a seven-hole stretch to open up the biggest halfway point lead in Masters history. The Irishman led by six strokes and then the armchair psychologists took over. They pointed out that Rory wasn’t going to fall away after last year’s triumph, but now that he had such a commanding lead, there was no way he would collapse and falter as he had done so many times before getting the monkey off his back last year. Would he? I love all the analysts coming out of the woodwork. Why don’t they just sit back, enjoy and assess the play on the course? The players actually don’t get into that stuff. All they want to do is play their best golf, execute, and see it play out. They are not intimidated if someone like Rory is playing in spectacular fashion. They can only control their own game to the best of their ability and compete.

The third round saw McIlroy come back to the pack, going one over par, and losing his 6-shot lead in the process. He went into the final round in a tie with Cameron Young. Those who forecast a Rory Reduction were riding high, telling anyone who would listen, “we told you so.”  The naysayers proved to be wrong.

It’s the way of the world in golf, it’s shot-to-shot as Scottie Scheffler has said, and it’s nothing more than that.

Momentum? I think we’ve discussed that fallacy before.

The pivotal hole in the final round was the same hole that has done in countless challengers before, the par-3 12th, where you are wise not to think of challenging it, with Rae’s Creek staring you in the face. McIlroy, who fell behind by two strokes earlier, found himself one stroke ahead of Justin Rose, with memories of the 2025 playoff dancing in the head of golfing observers.

Rory fired his finest approach of the day to within 7-feet, birdied the hole, increased his lead to two, and later three with five holes to play. Guts. There was one heart-stopping moment, the 18th, when McIlroy’s drive went deep into the woods on the right. But he settled down and was able to bogey the final hole to close it out.

That’s what a cushion will do on the final 18. Scottie Scheffler, who once was 12 back finished in second place one-shot behind.

Scottie didn’t win but he had to be pleased with his overall showing. Rose was in a four-way tie for third.

Going in it wasn’t easy to find the advance tale to be chased in this year’s Masters. Going out, it was the same guy as last year. In winning his sixth major title, Rory tied Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as just the fourth to win Augusta back-to-back.

The shrinks can go home. Rory McIlroy is no longer a patient on a couch. No longer a golfer to be scrutinized over and over. He’s simply one of the best ever we’ve seen.

Top 10?

Without question. Now, the only question is, “what are we going to talk about next year?”

Rory off to a flying start

Rory comes back down to earth

Rory a Champion again