Rory McIlroy admits he spent more time thinking about delivering his Masters champion's speech than he did fretting over the menu.
As defending Masters champion, McIlroy hosted an event at the clubhouse on Tuesday for all previous winners at Augusta. Part of the host's duties is to select the menu for the other players.
McIlroy and his guests tucked into appetisers of peach and ricotta flatbread, rock shrimp tempura, bacon-wrapped dates and grilled elk sliders for starters, followed by Yellowfin tuna carpaccio for a first course.
The mains were a choice of wagyu filet mignon or seared salmon with traditional Irish champ, sauteed brussels sprouts, glazed carrots with brown butter and crispy onion rings, with sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream to finish.
According to some reports, it was the most expensive Champions Dinner held at Augusta National, at an estimated cost of £250 a head.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. Honestly, I’ve probably thought about that [the speech] more than the food,” the Northern Irishman said ahead of his dinner.
“So many legends of the game there. Obviously, there’s two [Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson] that won’t be with us this year, which is a shame, but I’m sure they will be with us in the future.
“But talking in front of that group, I want to say the right things and make sure I get my feelings across of how grateful I am to be a part of that group."
Meanwhile, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler said he has learned to strike the right balance between work and home life as he eyes a third green jacket.
The 29-year-old American arrived at Augusta with family – wife Meredith and sons Bennet and Remy, who was born last month – in tow. Always careful not to mix the two, Scheffler has no problem keeping his professional and personal lives from becoming overly intertwined.
"I would say it's always been a battle for me trying to strike a balance between continuing to work hard, staying competitive, and also not having my – either my good golf or my bad golf – define me," he said on Tuesday.
"Because that could go one of two ways. If I let my bad golf define me, I'd be a pretty miserable person. If I let my good golf define me, whether or not it's a green jacket or an Open Championship, then I'd walk around pretty arrogant all the time and I wouldn't be very nice to people because I think I'm hot stuff because I won a few golf tournaments."
That allows Scheffler to focus on his job, which he still takes great enjoyment in working on. Nowhere more than at Augusta where he was champion in 2022 and 2024.
"This place is almost a challenge in a sense that you need to be able to get your stuff done and go home because I could camp out on that range for days and days and continue to practice," he said. "It's a pretty nice place to be."
On Thursday, Scheffler will continue his quest to become just the seventh player in history to win the Masters at least three times.
"I truly feel that once you drive down Magnolia Lane, everything else melts away, and you get to be here and be focused. There's not a lot of distractions this week," he said. "For us as players, it's really an enjoyable experience."
