Matthew Coritz

Think of something really heavy. Maybe it’s a car or bus. Maybe a boulder. Maybe you went out of the box and thought of something really random. How about the Statue of Liberty. You probably didn’t consider expectation. Expectation is a privilege. It means people respect what you do and have high hopes for your abilities. It’s defined as a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. But what often goes unsaid, is that when that expectation is unfulfilled it becomes a burden. Rory McIlroy has dealt with that burden his whole life. It didn’t just start in 2024 after a crushing blow at Pinehurst. It wasn’t the heartbreaking loss at the home of golf two years ago. Nor was it in 2011 with a back nine collapse for the ages at this very tournament. That weight started to grow, and when that burden drags on and on and on it begins to grow into an unimaginable weight. Every year for the majority of his professional career he would show up and get asked if this was his time. All the greats of the game, including Tiger, Jack, and Player, would sit behind a microphone and say of course he’ll win one. He’s simply too good not to. A very nice compliment. But with time those compliments compound into pressure.

It was just a 4 foot putt followed by 152 steps back to the clubhouse.  But with a swift stroke of the putter, a ball disappearing into a cup the long journey had reached its conclusion. He released his putter over his shoulders and with it a man was released from an unimaginable weight. For so long people doubted if it would ever happen. He himself has been quoted multiple times saying he wasn’t sure if it would ever be his time. But he got the one he always wanted most. The Tournament above all others. The one when his parents were low on money and he was just a young kid who only had a few range balls left, they told him to focus like this championship hung in the balance. Rory McIlroy has his masterpiece.

I’m a massive sports fan. I’m an enormous golf fan, and I’m a pretty darn big Rory fan. While admittedly Max Homa is my favorite player, Rory‘s always been up there. Of course, his swing is poetry and his talent is prodigious but what I love most is how much he authentically cares. He displays rare vulnerability to let us in on the journey. I have so much respect for someone who continually throws themself into the fire even if he’s been burned more than his fair share of times. It feels like athletes these days are all conditioned with the even keel mentality. Never too high and never too low, and walls on all four sides in the heat of battle. Don’t get me wrong as someone that’s been accused of being “too laid-back” and “the most nonchalant person they’ve ever met,” I get it. It can be draining to let strangers in and let people know how much something means to you. I struggle with it often. But Rory’s never had that problem. He’s always been an open book, strutting all over the place when it’s going right, and wearing his heartache on his sleeve when it’s going wrong. It’s never an act. It’s all so real. 

Life often has moments where you remember where you were when it happened. This is one of them. I’ll never forget this back nine sitting in the family room, glued to the TV with my Mom and Dad. I’ve been to plenty of amusement parks, but I’ll never ride a roller coaster like that one. Demons were exorcised, burdens were lifted, and a 5’9” Northern Irishman will now and forever have a size 38 Pantone 342 Jacket waiting for him on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club.