TELFER’S THOUGHTS 13.4.26

It might be something of an exaggeration to say Rory McIlroy is suddenly feasting on the rewards, records and remuneration (a mere US$4.5 million) that come from winning The Masters. However, 15 consecutive years of failure to win at Augusta hasn’t all been in vain. It was obvious last year and again this year that McIlroy has acquired a vast reservoir of what to do and what not to do around this devilishly testing course. No-one in the field of his generation has as much innate knowledge of this unique course. Yes, it’s an age-old sporting cliché that you can learn much from your failures. Rory’s two final rounds were the clearest example I can think of where a golfer has leaned on his past experiences to finally climb to the top.

After leading the field by 6 shots at the halfway stage Rory, 22 holes later, had given back all those 6 shots to the field, then when he missed a 3-foot putt on his way to a double bogey, his hopes now for a second straight green jacket looked to have died on the glassy greens of Augusta this day. Another bogey 2 holes later seemed to confirm that Rory was in the throes of letting slip another Masters. Past adversity told him, unfortunate though these two lapses were, 14 under would probably win this thing. That meant no more bogeys and 5 birdies had to be found over those final 12 holes.

His mind this time was clear and his thought process logical. The results were immediate - birdies on the next two holes meant he was back on the horse. He was looking more like the Rory of Thursday and Friday. Then came the pivotal moment on the par 3 12th . He pulled a pitching wedge out of his bag and sent his ball sailing high and serenely over Rae’s Creek and landed it 6 or 7 feet from the hole. Fate and momentum combined sweetly as he poured the putt into the hole. From that

moment on you sensed nobody now would stop the Irishman.

He stood on the 18th tee soon after with a 2-shot lead, grabbed his 3-wood and, as he sensed the title was surely his now, lashed out at his ball, opening wide the club face which sent the ball arcing right into the thick stand of trees halfway up the 18th fairway. Fate had dealt him one final fortunate twist. He had a shot, even though another crop of tall trees obscured his view of the green. It didn’t matter. He ripped a short iron over the trees and into a greenside bunker. That was just fine. He duly popped the ball onto the green, took his two putts and became only the 4th player to win back- to-back Masters titles. The other three? Jack Nicklaus of course, Tiger Woods of course and the

incomparable Sir Nic Faldo.

While Rory was making more history, Scottie Scheffler reminded us all why he is still the Number One ranked golfer. He trailed McIlroy by 13 shots after 36 holes, but finished the tournament just 1 shot adrift of the winner. Scheffler became the first player in the 91-year history of The Masters to play the final 2 rounds without a bogey. He rightly, I guess, remains Number One and Rory stays at Number Two. The former, the world’s best golfer, the latter the most loved. Golf is very fortunate to have these two superstars leading the way.

Sadly, the lingering side effects of kidney stone extractions conspired against Ryan Fox who went into this important golfing week with only two competitive rounds to his name in the month prior. To his credit, Ryan’s staunch determined mannerisms nearly got him into the weekend. He missed a 3-foot putt on the 34th hole and so missed the cut by 1 shot.