I can't figure out yet where it fits with Jack's win in 1986. Nicklaus's back 9 on Sunday was a straight line of emotion from disbelief to belief to pure joy. That day Nicklaus wasn't even mentioned on the TV broadcast until almost an hour into it and even when they showed him making the birdie at 10 it felt more obligatory than anything because he still wasn't even on the first page of the leaderboard. Then just great shot after great shot was so much fun to watch as he climbed his way to the win.
Yesterday, was wild swings of emotion right from Rory's double bogey on the first hole to losing the lead on the second, to regaining a big lead heading to the back 9, to blowing it at 13, to the incredible approaches at 15 and 17, the missed approach and par putt at 18, to battling back and making a clutch approach and putt on the playoff hole. I flipped from thinking he can't lose to he's not going win so many times. This was an amazing rollercoaster ride that really was emblematic of his 11 year journey at Augusta. Those cheers from the gallery yesterday for Rory are usually reserved for legends like Palmer, Nicklaus and Tiger.
More than any golfer of this generation, Rory's put himself out there, in terms of his opinions on the game, his failures, his emotions, his goals. It was so great to see him win it yesterday, and the raw emotion after. Finally. With the monkey off his back, him at his prime, it feels like he could go get himself 4 or 5 more majors before he's done. Maybe a double slam to join Jack and Tiger as the only ones to acheive that?
Well done, Rory. On to Quail Hollow!