What Rory McIlroy believes so many golf fans get wrong about Augusta National
Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images Rory McIlroy will get to continue to enjoy all of the perks that come with being the most recent champion at The Masters until next April. McIlroy became only the fourth player in history to win The Masters in successive years last month. The Northern Irishman did not have his A game by any means, but still managed to get across the line much more comfortably than he did in 2025.
It does appear that the shackles are now off McIlroy when it comes to playing at Augusta National. His legacy at The Masters is now going to be defined by how many Green Jackets he wins, rather than the prospect of being the best player to never win among the Georgia pines. What Rory McIlroy thinks many get wrong about Augusta National McIlroy’s win at the first major of the year last year allowed the 37-year-old to get a better peek at what happens behind the scenes at Augusta National.
The iconic venue hosts one of the most exclusive clubs anywhere in the world. With that, there may have been some misconceptions about Augusta National. Speaking on New Heights , McIlroy insisted that the club deserve a lot more credit for trying to take the game forward.
Photo by Simon Bruty/Augusta National/Getty Images “One of the silver linings for golf post-COVID has been this explosion in the game. I think when people say grow the game, they mean different things. To me, what the real thing of growing the game is is growing the participation in the sport, getting people to play the game.
I feel like in the professional world, in the PGA Tour world, when people talk about growing the game, they’re talking about growing the fanbase and growing the people that watch the sport, which is a part of it. But I think growing it is actually getting more people to play. Golf is a participation sport, you want people to play,” he said.