There is a reason Scottie Scheffler had something of an Irish exit from Butler Cabin on Sunday when he awarded 2025 Masters champion Rory McIlroy his first-ever green jacket.
Two days after Scheffler made waves over his interaction with McIlroy, in which the 2024 Masters victor helped this year’s winner put on his jacket before swiftly leaving the scene, the two-time major champion explained how he intended to be a background player to the Northern Irishman’s big moment at Augusta National.
“In that moment, like it was such an emotional day for [McIlroy], I kind of just tried to stay out of the way and basically get the jacket on without embarrassing him or myself,” said Scheffler, who placed fourth at the Masters at 8-under for the weekend.
It was a roller-coaster final round for McIlroy, 35, who had not won a major tournament since the PGA Championship in 2014.
Though primed to win in regulation on the par-4 18th, he pushed the Masters to a playoff after failing to drain a 4-foot putt that tied him with England’s Justin Rose at 11-under.
The playoff lasted one hole, with McIlroy making a birdie before collapsing onto the green as he completed a career Grand Slam.
“There were points in my career where I didn’t know if I would have this nice garment over my shoulders,’’ McIlroy said. “I certainly didn’t make it easy. I was nervous. It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on the golf course.”
Scheffler, a two-time Masters champion now looking to defend his RBC Heritage title, added Tuesday that he watched McIlroy’s joyous celebration and recognized the sense of “relief” he must have felt.
“It was really cool for me to be able to see because I have… I don’t have the 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 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 it was definitely from the outside, it looked a bit more like relief than anything,” Scheffler said, as covered by Golf.com
With the PGA Championship just weeks away, perhaps McIlroy — also the winner of this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship — will be adding even more hardware to his growing collection.
The RBC Heritage tees off Thursday.
