Rory McIlroy takes last year's Masters meltdown in stride

A year later, and Rory McIlroy is able to laugh about the worst day of his golfing career.

“I mean, I can’t believe how close the cabins are. They are only 50 yards off the tee,” said the 22-year-old Northern Irishman, drawing loud guffaws about the infamous scene of his Masters Tournament demise. “It’s great to be able to laugh about it now.”

Last Masters Sunday, McIlroy sent everyone scurrying to find the names of two of Augusta National Golf Club’s more obscure cabins on the 10th hole that were never considered in play before. His four-shot lead had been narrowed to one before his drive caught a tree and went caroming between the Peek and Berckman cabins – or as one scribe dubbed them, “a rock and a hard place.”

McIlroy unraveled with a triple bogey and spent an agonizing couple of hours going through the motions as everyone in front of him fought for the green jacket.

McIlroy came to Augusta a couple of weeks ago to begin exorcising those demons.

“Obviously, there’s memories that come back and memories that you probably don’t want,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s fine. I got that all out of the way, and, you know, just looking forward to this week and looking forward to trying to put myself in contention to try and win this thing.”

He didn’t feel compelled to see how his divot recovered.

“I just had a quick glance on the way past walking down the middle of the fairway last week, and hopefully I’ll do the same thing during the week this week,” he said.

In fairness, McIlroy isn’t remotely the same player who showed up in Augusta with his three mates last year, got shooed out of the street for making a ruckus playing football and nearly waltzed away with a green jacket before melting down.

He rebounded to win the U.S. Open two months later, started dating the former
No. 1 tennis player in the world, changed management companies, attained the
No. 1 ranking in golf and returns with his parents as a co-favorite with Tiger Woods.

In a way, he comes back all grown up.

“I definitely feel like I’ve come back here the same person but just with a different attitude,” he said. “I came in here last year hoping to do well and maybe to have a chance to win or whatever. But this year, I’m coming in with the attitude that I want to win. So, yeah, it’s a little bit more of a businesslike approach, you could say.”

McIlroy says he “wasn’t ready to win the Masters” last year despite three nearly flawless days of golf that set him up to become the 20th golfer in 21 years to win out of the final pairing. From the practice range to the course, though, McIlroy seemed out of sorts. He believes he wasn’t himself.

“It was trying to be too focused, too perfect,” he said. “For me, I feel like myself, I’m more relaxed. I sort of have a bounce in my step and sort of a heads-up looking around at other people. That day, I felt like from watching the tape back, I was always looking at the ground. I was very insular. My shoulders were a little bit (hunched over). Sort of like I didn’t want the outside world to get in instead of embracing the situation and saying, you know, ‘I’ve got a four-shot lead at the Masters; let’s enjoy this.’ ”

By the time McIlroy was bent over his driver after hitting into the creek on No. 13, his day was over. The previous few holes were “a blur.” The walk in was a chance to clear his head and prepare himself to face the world.

“I had five holes where I just sort of played and thought about it, and, you know, could almost reflect on what happened straight away,” he said.

Those not already in love with McIlroy’s personality and talent gained respect for him with the way he handled the fallout.

“I think as golfers we lose more than we win,” McIlroy said. “Every other time we are not lifting a trophy, it’s not a failure, but you don’t win, so you sort of get used to maybe disappointments. Maybe I’ve just got the mindset that I handle it a little better than others and feel like at that point I’ll have many more chances to win a major or win a Masters. It wasn’t the end of the world.

“Again, it’s only golf. It’s not like anyone died out there last Sunday.”

Tears didn’t come until a couple of days later when he spoke on the phone with his mother from Malaysia.

“It was the first time that I had cried in a long time about anything,” he said. “I suppose I sort of let it all out that morning, and I definitely felt better after it.”

Among the letters and calls of support, McIlroy singled out one from Greg Norman – a frequent heartbreak victim at Augusta whose meltdown in 1996 is seared into Masters memory.

“It was just great to get the phone call from him, because I think he knew more than anyone else how I was feeling at that point,” McIlroy said.

Now he is back as a major champion on top of the golf world and ready to erase the memories of 2011. It won’t be easy, but McIlroy is looking forward and not back – or sideways on No. 10.

“I’m coming back here a much more experienced player and feel like a much better player than the player that came here last year,” he said. “I’m very excited about the week.”