Rory McIlroy secured his second consecutive Masters title on Sunday, marking his sixth major victory and making him the fourth player to repeat as champion. Some questioned whether his extensive practice rounds at Augusta National beforehand provided an unfair advantage. Veteran professionals, however, unanimously rejected the criticism.
McIlroy built a six-shot lead through 36 holes and went on to win. He credited familiarity with the course, noting he played Augusta National two weeks prior, on Monday and Tuesday the week before the tournament, and arrived the Sunday before Masters week with his father, Gerry—a perk for the defending champion. “I’ve been on this golf course so much the last three weeks, and that’s been a big part of it,” McIlroy said Friday. He skipped the Valspar Championship and two Texas events after withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to injury and tying for 46th at the Players Championship, opting instead for day trips to Augusta. “I honestly just don’t like the three tournaments leading up to this event,” he explained. “I’d rather come up here.” Kevin Kisner called the complaints “the dumbest argument I’ve ever seen” on Barstool’s ForePlay podcast. He played Augusta about 10 times before each of his eight Masters appearances and said qualified players are welcome guests who can arrange rounds through the pro shop, though limits apply for excessive visits—unlikely for a defending champion like McIlroy. Michael Kim, who missed the cut in his third Masters, tweeted that Augusta National restricts solo rounds but imposes no limit with a member host. “If I wanted to match the number of rounds at Augusta that Rory got, I easily could have done that,” Kim said, deeming the issue “irrelevant to the result.” Phil Mickelson preferred competitive play the week before majors, while others like Justin Rose have even more Augusta experience.
