Rory McIlroy confronted an incredible quantity of strain as he ready for the ultimate spherical of the Masters on Sunday, and an sudden message he acquired beforehand appears to have caught with him.
McIlroy defeated Justin Rose in a playoff on Sunday at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership to win the primary inexperienced jacket of his profession. The victory, which was McIlroy’s first in a significant since 2014, made him solely the sixth golfer in historical past to finish the profession grand slam.
Following the spherical, McIlroy spoke with reporters in regards to the feelings he skilled after he birdied the primary sudden-death playoff gap to win the match. One of many issues McIlroy revealed is that he acquired a hand-written be aware from Angel Cabrera previous to the ultimate spherical.
“I bought to my locker this morning and I opened it up, and there was a be aware in there from Angel Cabrera, and simply wishing me luck,” McIlroy mentioned, through Nick Piastowski of Golf.com. “And Angel Cabrera was the participant I performed with on the ultimate day in 2011. It was a pleasant contact and somewhat bit ironic on the identical time. It’s been 14 lengthy years, however fortunately I bought the job completed.”
As McIlroy talked about, Cabrera was within the ultimate pairing with the 35-year-old on the 2011 Masters. That gave Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, an up-close have a look at McIlroy’s brutal collapse.
McIlroy had a four-shot lead after 54 holes on the 2011 Masters. He fully fell aside on the ultimate 9 holes of the match, capturing an 80 on the final day. Many puzzled if the Irishman would ever exorcise these demons.
Although McIlroy doubtless acquired numerous encouraging messages previous to Sunday, the be aware from Cabrera clearly made a long-lasting impression.
