After a rollercoaster Grand Slam victory at the Masters last year, Jack Nicklaus warned Rory McIlroy not to make any double bogeys in his bid to become just the fourth player to retain the Green Jacket at Augusta National.
Nicklaus and McIlroy have long shared a close relationship with the 18-time major winner often offering words of wisdom to the Holywood man who was chasing the one major that had eluded him.
“This year, I saw him on the practice tee just before he was teeing off, and why he was out there that early — because I was getting ready to go to the first tee to do our opening, and I put my hands on his shoulders, and I said to him, No effing double bogeys,” said Nicklaus at his pre-tournament press conference at Muirfield Village’s Memorial.
“So anyway, he had Amanda Balionis and she did an interview, and she said, What did you do? And he repeated what I had said to him. And I think that’s the key to it. The key for him was not to make double bogeys. He did end up making a couple the last couple rounds, but he didn’t make any the first two rounds. So I was very happy for Rory. I was delighted for him. I’ve been a big Rory fan.”
Despite all of his career achievements, McIlroy still hasn’t won the Memorial Tournament and received the coveted handshake from tournament host, Nicklaus.
“Now he’s only got one thing left on his resume that he really needs to have and that’s to win here. So you tell him that he’s got to do that,” Nicklaus chuckled.
“In the lead up to trying to win the Grand Slam, McIlroy sought out the advice of the six-time Masters champion even giving Nicklaus a shot by shot playbook of how he was going to tackle Augusta National over a pre-tournament dinner.
“I was delighted for Rory, obviously. You know, I told you — I mean, I didn’t tell you. We sat down — I think we sat down two years ago, the weekend before the Masters, and had lunch. And I said, Okay, Rory, tell me, how are you going to play the golf course? And he says, You want all of it? I said, Yeah, give it to me shot for shot.
“And so Rory went through it shot for shot, and he said, What do you think? And I said, Well, I wouldn’t change a thing. I think it’s exactly the way you should play it. He varied from it one time. He varied from it on the 3rd hole. He said if the pin was left, he was not going to drive it, but he would drive it every other time.
“Well, he drove it on Sunday on that and put it right at the base of the hill and made birdie. But he gave himself a chance to make more than that. But that birdie probably won the tournament for him that first year.”
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