Scottie Scheffler has given an insight into the relief Rory McIlroy felt after winning the Masters, having had a front row seat to his triumph. As the 2024 champion, Scheffler was the man to put the famous green jacket on McIlroy’s shoulders at the Augusta National and said it was “cool” to see the Northern Irishman’s crowning achievement.
McIlroy became just the sixth man – and the first European – to complete the career Grand Slam, having previously won the US Open, The Open and two US PGA Championships. But it had been a long time coming, taking the 11 attempts and 11 years after his previous major title at the 2014 PGA Championship.
He admitted afterwards that the pressure had added to his nerves on the final day, where he needed a play-off to beat Justin Rose. And, speaking ahead of the RBC Heritage tournament in South Carolina, Scheffler responded to those who had questioned his actions in the jacket presentation ceremony.
Some felt the American, who finished fourth in his title defence, had lacked sincerity when handing the jacket to McIlroy and quickly disappearing. But Scheffler felt he was simply trying to get the job done efficiently to leave McIlroy to soak up his deserved limelight.
“It was such an emotional day for him. I kind of just tried to stay out of the way and basically just get the jacket on without embarrassing him or myself,” Scheffler explained.
“I got to watch the whole celebration. I watched the finish and it was really cool for me to be able to see it because I don’t have an understanding of what it’s like to be asked about the career Grand Slam, but I have a small understanding of what it’s like to be asked, ‘Hey, you’ve accomplished this, but you haven’t accomplished that…’ It can be very taxing on people sometimes.
“So it was cool to be able to see Rory get the job done and definitely from the outside it looked a bit more like relief than anything because Rory has accomplished everything in the game of golf and that was really the last thing for him to accomplish.
“I mean, the guy’s won the FedExCups, he won the Players, now he’s won all four Majors. I mean, maybe the only other thing would be the Olympics is what he’d want to win.
“So it was really cool for me to be there at that moment. You know, he’s a good friend of mine and to be able to congratulate him and to just see the joy in him and his family, it was really cool.”
Scheffler hasn’t won a tournament yet this season and also had somewhat of a warning for McIlroy: enjoy it while it lasts. “The feeling you get from winning a tournament is a pretty special feeling,” he said. “For me, I wish it lasted longer than it did. It doesn’t really last very long.”
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