Rory McIlroy faced a shaky start at Augusta, ending his opening round with doubt clouding his mind, but he found solace through a text from a trusted confidant. McIlroy, who ultimately secured his long-coveted Masters victory in a playoff against Justin Rose on Sunday, initially grappled with self-doubt after Thursday’s round.
The golfer from Northern Ireland completed his initial round on 72 strokes, faltering with a double bogey on two of the last four holes. It was at this point that McIlroy turned to not only his caddie Harry Diamond but also sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella for guidance.
In response to the challenging start, McIlroy contacted Rotella, who reminded him of their conversations about resilience being crucial to bouncing back from such setbacks. “Thursday was a really big thing,” admitted Rotella in an exclusive with The Daily Mail.
“We have spoken a lot about resilience and how you come back from disappointment. It is an area we talk about all of the time. What happened in his first round was always going to be an example of that. I texted him to get some sleep and we would speak in the morning.”
Rotella, whose expertise has aided golf legends like Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, managed to steal some time with McIlroy the next morning. They converged in a secluded spot within Augusta National’s caddie building near the driving range, where Rotella provided McIlroy with the necessary encouragement to tackle the challenges ahead.
Rotella recounted the moment he embraced McIlroy, saying, “I saw him and gave him a bear hug,
“The first thing I mentioned was, ‘You cannot let two holes define how you view the round’. We spoke about how good he had been. The shots that he went for and worked out. He was actually upbeat – he knew he was playing well. But he was heartbroken by the mistakes so the emphasis is to look at what had gone well.
“The second thing we spoke about was comebacks. The greatest stories we tell in sport are the comebacks. I told him, ‘It was time for a gut check’, as we call it here. How resilient are you? Am I strong enough to go out there again and be ready for the test?”.
“I said to him, ‘You have to have a steel will, be unbreakable, because this game can rip out your heart’. I think he enjoys those moments, those tests. He showed what he has on Friday.”
On Friday, McIlroy put forward an incredible performance, scoring a 66 that nudged him back into the competition. He later acknowledged the significant impact Rotella had on his approach, stating: “I had a good conversation with Bob Rotella about not pushing too hard too early, just tried to stay really, really patient and that was rewarded with a nice little stretch in the middle of the round,”.
From that point onwards, he upped his game, and despite some tense moments in the final round, including a slight mistake on the 18th green, McIlroy emerged victorious in the first playoff against Rose. This win put an end to a long series of challenges he had faced.
“Yeah, look, it was a heavy weight to carry,” he openly confessed. “And thankfully now I don’t have to carry it and it frees me up and I know I’m coming back here every year, which is lovely.”