Sure, we’re over 300 days from the next Masters, but the beloved major technically starts in June the preceding year. That’s because the Masters ticket application lottery is officially open for you … and everyone else in the world. The application period for 2027 Masters tickets opened on Monday, June 1 and will run through June 20.

Often called “the toughest ticket in sports,” there are millions of entries for a finite number of spots. And yet, someone has to win. Why not you? Or me? Rory McIlroy will have an opportunity to go back-to-back-to-back. Anything is possible.

 

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The “lottery” is the only authorised way to buy Masters tickets—and unless you’re Harry Styles or Wayne Gretzky, you’re going to need to win this to get through the Augusta National gates. Here’s what you need to know if you’re going to try your hand at the lottery of all lotteries.

When is the 2027 Masters?

The 2027 Masters will run from April 5-11. Practice rounds will be from Monday-Wednesday, April 5-7, with the Par-3 Contest on Wednesday. And then, tournament rounds will be played from Thursday-Sunday, April 8-11.

How much are tickets?

Despite demand, tickets are relatively inexpensive. Monday and Tuesday are $125 apiece, and Wednesday will be $150. Daily tournament tickets are $160 each.

How will you know if you’ve won?

Once the random selection process is done, you’ll receive an email (even if you didn’t get tickets). Daily tournament tickets are handed out first, according to Augusta National. And then those who didn’t win those will have a chance at the practice rounds. The emails will be sent out in late July, along with payment details, if you’re lucky enough to win.

Augusta National

What are Masters Series Badges?

Okay, now we’re getting a bit big for our britches, aren’t we? Masters Series Badges are lifetime access tickets for all four tournament days. They’re the most sought-after of tickets and cover entry over the course of the competition’s four days. There’s a Masters Series Badge waiting list, and you’re not allowed to transfer the Badge down to your family.

OK, so how do I enter to get tickets?

All you have to do is go to this link right here and sign up. You can apply for up to four tickets for any or all days, but you can win only one day.

Also, if you want to expand your Augusta National/Masters reach, you might want to sign up for Drive, Chip & Putt tickets and/or the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Tickets for the Drive, Chip & Putt are $35 each. The first two ANWA rounds, played at Champions Retreat Golf Club, are free. The final Saturday round, played at Augusta National, is $150.

Best of luck out there. Maybe it’s time to get into religion or even hire an Etsy witch. Every bit counts. And to be fair, the odds are 50-50 you get into Augusta National. You either win tickets or you don’t. That sounds like flipping a coin. (There’s a reason I’m a journalist and not a statistician.)

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This year’s cutline was four-over 148, which falls right in line with the tournament’s historic average of 148.41. Rory McIlroy, however, birdied six of the last seven holes Friday and the last four straight to shoot 65 and hold a six-shot lead, a record for the largest lead at the halfway point of the Masters.

“I know what can happen around here good and bad,” McIlroy said. “You don’t have to remind me what can happen around this place.”

The defending champion actually made bogey on the 10th then caught fire starting on the par-3 12th hole. The highlight of the stretch was a 29-yard pitch shot that found the bottom of the cup on the 17th hole. He then closed it out with birdie on the home hole to lead at 12 under par. Sam Burns and Patrick Reed are tied for second place, six shots behind. McIlroy and Burns will be in the last pairing in Saturday’s third round and go off at 2:50 p.m. ET.

Pairings are twosomes rather than the threesomes that played in the first and second rounds. All players will tee off the first hole and Kurt Kitayama and Alex Noren will get the party started at 9:31 a.m. ET. Reed and Justin Rose are the penultimate pairing that go at 2:38 p.m ET. Rose is at five under par. He lost to McIlroy in a playoff last year.

Here is the complete list of pairings and tee times for Day 3 at Augusta National.

Saturday’s third-round tee times

9:31 a.m.: Kurt Kitayama, Alex Noren

9:42 a.m.: Charl Schwartzel, Rasmus Hojgaard

9:53 a.m.: Jon Rahm, Si Woo Kim

10:04 a.m.: Brian Harman, Corey Conners

10:15 a.m.: Sergio Garcia, Maverick McNealy

10:26 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland

10:37 a.m.: Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland

10:48 a.m.: Sam Stevens, Adam Scott

11:10 a.m.: Marco Penge, Matt McCarty

11:21 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka

11:32 a.m.: Aaron Rai, Jacob Bridgeman

11:43 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im

11:54 a.m.: Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley

12:05 p.m.: Harris English, Ryan Gerard

12:16 p.m.: Ludvig Aberg, Scottie Scheffler

12:38 p.m.: Collin Morikawa, Brian Campbell

12:49 p.m.: Nick Taylor, Matt Fitzpatrick

1 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Michael Brennan

1:11 p.m.: Jake Knapp, Xander Schauffele

1:22 p.m.: Ben Griffin, Max Homa

1:33 p.m.: Chris Gotterup, Brooks Koepka

1:55 p.m.: Jason Day, Cameron Young

2:06 p.m.: Haotong Li, Kristoffer Reitan

2:17 p.m.: Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton

2:28 p.m.: Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood

2:39 p.m.: Justin Rose, Patrick Reed

2:50 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns

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It’s funny, the more I come back, the more merch requests I get, and this year was no different. I like to get my shopping done and out the way as early as possible, so I can focus on what I’m there to do, cover the Masters. Monday morning at 7:30, I took a stroll from the media centre, across the first hole, behind two green, past the famous 16th green all the way up to the South store. It’s about a 20-minute walk, but I figured it might be the quicker option to the larger, but often crowded, North store. But when I made it up the hill, I met what’s best described as a cordial stampede of patrons along with a sign that read “Merchandise store line temporarily paused” with lines exceeding an hour in wait time. News quickly spread and almost simultaneously another queue started to form. It was a line waiting for the real line, crazy scenes for any time of the day, let alone 8 a.m.

I decided to head back towards the clubhouse, enjoying the walk once again, but this time with less intent, taking in my surroundings and feeling like I was one of few people walking the hallowed grounds as a noticeable crowd started brewing from the main scoreboard area back by the opening hole.

Cut to later in the day and I decided to try my luck with a colleague at the North store. It’s just a short walk from the media centre, and we weren’t walking for long before we reached the end of the queue and a different sign this time “Wait time 45 minutes from here.” We committed and decided to join the line. Just like waiting for a rollercoaster, the longer the line, the more the anticipation builds, overhearing people ask if there will be a gnome’s left (there weren’t) or “how much do you think they’re making this week?” ($69 – $80 million)

Now before I tell you what happened next, I’d like to note that I’m not usually one to spend a lot of money when it comes to clothes, merchandise etc. But It’s hard to explain to buzz you feel inside that shop and the urge to drop $1,000 within minutes, or in my case $1,077. I queued for 45, spent 20 inside and dropped four figures without even thinking about it. The average spend of patrons at The Masters is exactly that, and I guess I am no different. You might be thinking “what else could you possibly want to buy your third year in?!” and that’s a fair question, but until you’ve experienced it yourself, I’d like you to hold any judgements, please and thank you. Here’s to another unforgettable week for all golf fans.

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Augusta National has been shaped as much by what was lost as by what was built. The riding trails that were never cleared. The tennis courts that were never laid. The real estate lots around the property that sat unsold. Most of those ghosts have faded entirely from memory.

Except one, hiding where everyone can see it.

In the winter of 1932, as Dr. Alister MacKenzie finalised his designs for Augusta National Golf Club, he drew up something not unusual — a 19th hole, roughly 90 yards. Tucked between what are now the 9th and 18th greens, running parallel to the clubhouse. A short, cunning little thing with a narrow end where the flag would sit between two bunkers, and a wider end that offered a safer route to those without the nerve to go at the pin. MacKenzie had a name for it: Double or Quits.

The concept came straight from Scottish golf tradition, where a “bye hole” — an extra hole played after the round — gave the losing player one final chance at redemption. One more swing, double or nothing. It was gambling dressed up as golf, which is to say it was golf at its most honest.

Clifford Roberts wanted it. Bobby Jones signed off. MacKenzie wrote of the design with evident enthusiasm, describing the plateau green, the punishing narrow end, the mercy of the wider side for those who chose discretion over daring. The hole had a purpose, a personality, and a name. It had everything, really, except funding.

It is difficult, from the vantage point of Augusta National today, one of the most exclusive and financially formidable private clubs on earth, to fully reckon with how precarious the place once was. The club opened at the nadir of the Great Depression, and the financial records from those early years read less like the ledger of a grand institution than the diary of a slow emergency. Initiation fees were $350, roughly $7,000 in today’s dollars. Annual dues were $60. Roberts had set an ambitious membership target of 1,800. To join, you filled out an index card. Few were returned. After three years of recruiting, Augusta National’s membership stood at 76.

So the 19th hole was shelved. Killed, as MacKenzie’s biographers would later note, by aesthetics and economics in equal measure. The hole would have obstructed the sweeping view of the course from the clubhouse, a real concern for a club staking its identity on grandeur. But the deeper problem was simpler. Augusta National didn’t have the money.

The 19th hole was not alone in its fate. A second course never materialised. The riding trails were never cut. The real estate lots lingered on the market for twenty years without buyers until Roberts, in one of his final acts as chairman, purchased the last remaining parcel himself and had the house on it demolished. Augusta National, in those early years, was a place held together by ambition and very little else.

And yet, if you know where to look, the 19th hole has never left. After the plans were abandoned, the area where the tee would have stood, just left of the 18th fairway, became the club’s first driving range. The green is harder to miss, because you have almost certainly already seen it.

MacKenzie’s proposed putting surface for Double or Quits would have occupied the space that is now Augusta National’s practice putting green. The site where the champion stands, arms at his sides, while the previous year’s winner holds open that famous coat. Augusta folded on the bet. but the bones of the gamble are still there, written into the earth beneath one of the most celebrated moments in golf.

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Thanks to Tee Times on X for noticing this new concessions option. Introducing the Masters . . . Candy Bar. And we haven’t been this excited for a change to the Masters menu since they added their Crow’s Nest beer five years ago.

#NEW: While last year’s addition to #TheMasters menu was met with mixed feedback (tomato pie), 2026’s will surely be a hit.

ANGC has partnered with Bitzel’s, an artisan chocolate factory near Atlanta to produce the official “Masters Candy Bar” which debuts this year! pic.twitter.com/KeKjupxgRS

— Tee Times (@TeeTimesPub) March 18, 2026

OK, so the name could use a little work, but it seems like this could be a hit next month. “A dark-milk chocolate blend with caramel, rice crisps and hazelnut crunch”? Yeah, that’s going to be good. According to the tweet, the Masters has partnered with Bitzel’s, an artisan chocolate factory near Atlanta, to make the treat.

RELATED: Here’s everybody in the field (so far) at Augusta National

The Masters website also listed the new candy bar on this handy list of all its concession items—along with any associated allergies to watch out for:

Last year, the Masters added the “Savoury tomato pie” to mixed results, but as you can see, it’s back on the menu for this year. And on Tuesday, Augusta National announced patrons who aren’t fortunate enough to attend the tournament this year will once again be able to order some of the event’s food through it’s Taste of the Masters packages.

Elevate your watch party for the 90th Masters Tournament, April 9-12. Taste of the Masters hosting kits are now available at https://t.co/rSr9YUhCX2. pic.twitter.com/QopwXmoT9C

— The Masters (@TheMasters) March 17, 2026

It’s unclear how much the new Masters candy bar will cost, but, as we know with this tournament, it won’t cost you much to try one.

RELATED: Rory McIlory reveals 2026 Masters Champions Dinner menu, including a tuna dish inspired by his favourite NYC restaurant

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But after making his final one of those on No. 13 during the final round (and adding one more bogey on 14) to lose his lead in the tournament, McIlroy put together a particularly jaw-dropping stretch of approach shots. There was this boomerang 7-iron from 205 yards on the par-5 15th that CBS’ Jim Nantz called “The shot of a lifetime!”:

https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1911540967586377879

Unfortunately, McIlroy missed the eagle putt, but then he hit another great shot on the par-3 16th to that tough back-right position. And once again missed the putt. But on 17, he hit one even closer to essentially tap-in range and converted the birdie to take the lead:

https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1911546879411712154

Incredible stuff. But it gets even more impressive after statistician Lou Stagner crunched the numbers to show how rare it is to see three such approach shots hit that close in a row. Have a look:

https://twitter.com/LouStagner/status/1912192187720179941

As you can see, Stagner puts the odds of a PGA Tour pro hitting three consecutive approach shots like that at about one in 28,700(!) chances. And that’s under normal conditions and not factoring in that this was during the final round of the Masters. And with the career Grand Slam on the line. Crazy stuff. You can easily make the case that these were the three best consecutive approach shots in golf history. (And while he missed the green on 18, he came back in a playoff to stuff another amazing approach to set up the winning birdie.)

For some reason, people had questions/critiques about Stagner’s post. So he dug in more with this follow-up tweet that shows McIlroy had never even come close to doing something like this in his entire career.

https://twitter.com/LouStagner/status/1912353284825739659

And yet, somehow, McIlroy was able to summon this iron magic at the absolute most important time. Under unimaginable pressure. Truly remarkable. Again, we didn’t need any numbers to tell us Rory was doing something special, but sometimes they can make us appreciate what we watched even more.

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Shane Lowry had a terrible, no good, very bad Sunday at Augusta National. Lowry tee’d off at five-under par, seven shots back of leader Rory McIlroy. Then the wheels came off. Seven bogeys and two doubles later, the 2019 Open champ stumbled his way into the clubhouse with a nine-over 81, a whopping 15 shots back of his Ryder Cup compatriot and eventual winner.

Lowry’s skid began on Saturday with a bogey-bogey finish to his third round. Afterward, Lowry told reporters he was in no mood to “stand around and talk about Rory for 10 minutes.” That rubbed some the wrong way, but on Sunday evening, when the chips were down, Lowry was there for his friend, embracing him in a bear hug as he walked off the 18th green before posting this touching tribute to X on Tuesday. Check it out.

The Masters is one of the greatest weeks in golf. I was so disappointed with my performance Sunday but I gave it everything and that’s all I can ask for.

I’ve never been happier to watch someone else achieve something that I want so badly myself. Rory deserves every bit of this… pic.twitter.com/PacNKMeCN5

— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) April 15, 2025

RELATED: Shane Lowry announces Zurich Classic partnership with Rory McIlroy with amazing photo from pair’s Irish junior days

Honestly, we love this. Golf can be a very isolating sport. True friends can be in short supply when everyone is competing directly against one another. Somehow, Lowry managed to sum up that struggle in a single sentence:

“I’ve never been happier to watch someone else achieve something that I want so badly myself.”

You don’t have to play professional golf to relate to that sentiment. One of the hardest things in life is being happy for the accomplishments of those around you when things aren’t going well for yourself. To genuinely feel that for another is a sign of true friendship, and it appears Lowry and McIlory have that. That’s great news for pro golf as a whole … but less so for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

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RELATED: Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at Augusta National

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Turns out, people love drama. Who knew?

CBS Sports released television ratings for the final round of the Masters and it was the most watched since Patrick Reed won in 2018, beating Rickie Fowler by a shot. It was also the most-watched golf telecast on any network in seven years.

Rory McIlroy took a two-shot lead into the final round over Bryson DeChambeau but that evaporated quickly and he actually trailed after two holes. McIlroy regained a four-shot lead on the back nine but coughed it up with a costly double bogey on the par-5 13th hole when he hit his third shot into the water. After making bogey on the next hole he was in a three-way tie for the lead with Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg. He actually trailed for a moment, but after making birdie on the 17th hole he needed par on the last to win his first green jacket. But he made bogey after hitting an approach into the greenside bunker, but he made birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to top Rose and capture the career Grand Slam.

CBS Sports on Sunday delivered the most-watched final round of the Masters since 2018, as Rory McIlroy won in a playoff to capture his first green jacket along with golf’s career grand slam: pic.twitter.com/72JWrmZ8B6

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) April 14, 2025

According to the CBS Sports report, the round averaged 12.707 million viewers, which is up 33 percent from 2024, where Scottie Scheffler won. Viewership reached its peak during the 7-7:15 timeframe at 19.543 million viewers.

To explain the elephant in the room—the ratings for Tiger Woods’ victory in 2019, his 15th major championship. Because of bad weather expected later in the afternoon on that historic Sunday, tee times were moved up and into a timeslot that typically does not produce as many viewers. The average that day was 10.8 million viewers and the high for the day six years ago reached 12.1 million.

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For McIlroy to still claim his first green jacket and the career Grand Slam under those circumstances is to know that he countered with some of the greatest strikes in this or any other tournament—many coming in a scintillating back-and-forth battle with his English Ryder Cup teammate, Justin Rose.

Ultimately, it was McIlroy’s perfect 314-yard drive at the 18th hole and gap wedge—repeat, gap wedge—from 126 yards to three feet for birdie on the first playoff hole that clinched the tournament. But there were so many memorable shots—both awful and spectacular—that will be talked about and savored that they are worth replaying for the sake of posterity.

McIlroy said it himself: “Just a complete roller coaster of a day.”

The shaky opening tee shot

McIlroy walked to the tee box from the putting green, setting out on the final round with a two-shot lead, with an expression of utter focus, but he was hiding anxiety the likes of which he’d rarely felt.

“I was unbelievably nervous this morning,” McIlroy he admitted. “Knot in your stomach, haven’t really had much of an appetite all day. Tried to force food down. Your legs feel a little jelly-like.”

With those jangled nerves, McIlroy pushed his drive into the right bunker, could only lay up, hit his third shot past the flag and three-putted for double bogey. When partner Bryson DeChambeau got up and down for par, they were tied.

The aggressive play at 3

Rory McIlroy birdies No. 3 and is once again 11 under par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/xx9Q0IUH1P

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 13, 2025

After making only par at the second and losing the lead when DeChambeau notched a birdie, McIlroy chose driver on the short third after DeChambeau laid back. It was an aggressive play, and McIlroy hit an excellent drive down the pipe that came up only 24 yards short of the flag. With a deft chip, he made birdie from there.

“One of the most important ones for me was the second shot on 3. I started 6, 5, hit a good tee shot on 3. That’s not an easy second shot, bumping it up that hill. To judge that well and make a 3 there, when Bryson then made 5, and then to go ahead and birdie the next hole, as well … it was very early in the round, but it was a huge moment.”

The jaw-dropping risk at 7

McIlroy said he’s struggled visualizing tee shots on some holes during the week, and the claustrophobic seventh was one of them. His over-drawn drive ended up in the left tree line, and when McIlroy was looking at going for the green over the trees from 154 yards, it gave caddie Harry Diamond pause.

“I probably shouldn’t have taken on. Harry was telling me not to. I was like, ‘No, no, I can do this,’” McIlroy said.

He would call it maybe his best shot of the day, taking a full rip to get the ball on the green and two-putt for par. McIlroy could be seen on the broadcast gesturing and laughing. Who was that aimed at? “Dottie,” he said of CBS on-course reporter Dottie Pepper.

The heart-stopping approach at 11

After a birdie at 10, McIlroy had a five-shot lead and pushed his drive a bit at the long 11th. Then his second shot turned enough left that when it bounced it looked like it was headed for the pond. As McIlroy later recalled, he heard the crowd grown, only to cheer when the ball barely stayed up in the fringe.

“Actually, Bryson hit his shot in the water, and I was looking at my ball thinking, like, should I run down and hit it? Should I go down and hit it out of turn to make sure it doesn’t roll in? But I got down there, and it was on a little flat spot, so it was OK. But yeah, was quite fortunate.”

From 90 feet, McIlroy did make bogey, but a ball in the water could have led to another double.

“Look, I’ve rode my luck all week,” McIlroy said with a grin. “I think with the things that I’ve had to endure over the last few years, I think I deserved it.”

82 yards of awful at 13

Rory's third shot on No. 13 finds the water. pic.twitter.com/yoS1x5dk5H

— Golf on CBS (@GolfonCBS) April 13, 2025

A key question when McIlroy made the turn with a good lead was if he’d be conservative on the back-nine par 5s. The answer came at the 13th, where he chose less than driver off the tee and then laid up to 82 yards. It was a shot he’s hit a million times, so let him explain:

JD Cuban

“[The second shot] had went into a little valley and it was on the upslope. And usually when I hit wedge shot off upslopes, they come out a little bit left on me. I gave myself like a couple of yards of room to the right. I wasn’t aiming at the creek, but it came out a little weak and a little right. … To make a double there, when it’s a birdie chance, and then seeing what Rosey was doing, and also what Ludvig [Aberg] was doing at the time, as well.

“But at the same time, I knew I had 15 to play. The bogey didn’t help on 14, either. But I still felt after the tee shot on 15 that I was still in it.”

About the 15th …

I don’t even know anymore pic.twitter.com/PE191jP2ST

— Rory McIlroy Tracker (@RMTracker) April 13, 2025

McIlroy bogeyed the 14th and then blasted a driver 332 yards at 15 far enough left to require a draw around the trees. The next shot was a 209-yard 7-iron was otherworldly, with the ball landing and the crowd’s roar growing as it rolled to seven feet for eagle.

“I had 8-iron in my hand, and Bryson hit first and hit it in the water,” McIlroy explained. “The breeze had freshened up, so I switched back to a 7 and then hit that shot. It was one of those where I knew it was enough to cover, and if it turned it, great, and if it didn’t, you’re sort of in that right trap and it’s not an easy up-and-down, but it’s a decent miss.”

The miss came with the eagle putt, but the birdie once again gave McIlroy a one-shot lead.

The stretch …

McIlroy said he sought to mentally approach the back nine in clusters of three, and so 16 was the start of his final stretch. He admitted the tee shot at the par 3 was a concern because of the altered Sunday pin placement, pushed right and back, to commemorate Jack Nicklaus’ 1975 win. McIlroy hit a great tee shot to give himself nine feet for birdie, and when he missed, he looked up to the board to see Rose had tied him at 11 under.

Not rattled, McIlroy clubbed down at 17 and rifled a 248-yard tee shot to 196 yards away, and a superb 8-iron landed and trickled to only two feet, drawing more thunderous cheers. Once again, McIlroy had one hand on the green jacket.

The anticipation from the gallery was that after McIlroy pounded his drive safely to the left that he would coax his 130-yard approach somewhere behind the flagstick to give himself a comfortable coronation walk to the green. It did not go that way because of a pulled shot that went into the right bunker, and when McIlroy couldn’t get up and down, missing his par from six feet, he was forced into the playoff.

A second chance

While McIlroy played in, Rose hustled to the driving range, and after the Ryder Cup teammates shook hands on the 18th tee, both hit good drives. The difference was that McIlroy’s carried 314 yards up the hill while Rose was 35 yards behind him.

Still, Rose produced gasps when he nearly dunked his ball with the approach. with it settling 19 feet above the hole. Only 126 yards away, McIlroy didn’t make the same mistake at 18, this time hitting his gap wedge just above the hole before his trickled down to a putt so short that he could not miss.

Main Image: Stephen Denton

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https://twiitter.com/vincekearney/status/1911563889239531917

As you can so clearly see, the Holywood members lost their minds when the final putt dropped—especially considering the anticipation after McIlroy couldn’t finish the job on the 72nd hole—from jumping up and down to bearhugs to perhaps a teardrop or two. It’s pure joy and just another small piece from an extraordinary (and exhausting) day.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable for somebody from Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, to win the Grand Slam of golf,” Holywood Golf Club President Tony Denvir told The Independent. “There’s only been five players in the history of golf to do this. And for somebody from such a small town in a small country to do this is just absolutely unbelievable.

“We’ve all seen the clips of Rory hitting balls into the washing machine with his father as a youngster, and he was the youngest ever member here. To do what he’s done, you can’t really put it into words, to be honest with you.”

9-year-old Rory McIlroy chipping into a washing machine on Northern Irish talk show “Kelly” (1999) pic.twitter.com/8iYAK0qli2

— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) April 13, 2025

If you’re a bit confused by the lack of drinks in the celebration clip above, we were right there with you. Apparently, the bar had to close at 10 p.m. due to the club’s license, which is why, according to the BBC, “the last drinks were served at Holywood Golf Club more than two hours before the dramatic golf tournament ended.”

There were still “tears of joy,” according to Paula Denvir, former ladies captain at Holywood Golf Club, along with some “stunned silence” too, during the most tense moments of the major. One club member remarked, “My stomach feels like Rory’s old washing machine,” after the missed putt on the 18th hole.

Thankfully, for everyone’s sanity, McIlroy got it done on the 73rd hole at Augusta National, and he finally got the monkey off his back. He’ll be back in Northern Ireland to properly celebrate soon, and we’re betting the bar will stay open for as late as the green jacket winner wants.

“I was absolutely sick with nerves,” the club’s lady captain Ruth Watt admitted to the BBC. “We thought he had thrown it away, but it was an unbelievable finish. I’m going home for a tonic.”

Main Image: X Twitter – @vincekearney

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