Mason Howell had one of the best seats in the house over the first two days at Augusta National, with the youngster getting to play alongside Rory McIlroy as he opened up a record lead at The Masters.
McIlroy became the first player in Masters history to go into the weekend with a six-shot advantage. The Northern Irishman appeared to have a real chance of breaking all kinds of scoring records over the remainder of the first major of the year.
Of course, he was not quite as comfortable getting across the line on Sunday. Nevertheless, his performance over the first two days set the stage for his sixth major win.
What Mason Howell told Rory McIlroy after his chip-in at The Masters
Mason Howell lauded McIlroy following the second round on Friday. The amateur ended up missing the cut on nine over par, as he finished tied with the likes of Fred Couples and Jose Maria Olazabal.
He did, however, get to see one of the shots of the week up close, with McIlroy chipping in on the 17th hole as part of a run on Friday that saw him make six birdies in seven holes.
Perhaps only McIlroy’s tee shot on the 12th on Sunday could top it. And speaking on 5 Clubs, Howell joked why he was not best pleased with McIlroy for finding the bottom of the cup.
“I would say the back nine on Friday, I was struggling to make the cut, hitting some loose shots, but that’s when Rory and Cam started going on just an absolute run, and I was like I’ve just got to get out of their way. I don’t want to bother them at all. These guys are up there competing for the tournament. Through 15 holes I was already out of it. And of course, Rory chips in on 17. That was just the cherry on top. To be able to watch that stretch of golf that he played Friday afternoon was awesome,” he said.
“I was standing right behind the green, and the worst part was I had to chip right after, and I was like how do I even follow that? I was like, ‘thanks Rory’. I went up and gave him a fist bump and that’s what I said, ‘thanks, now I’ve got to try and replicate that’. It was every bit of 40, 50 yards, it was almost like a pitch in, he just had the entire green to work with. It rolled in like a putt. The whole place exploded, that was one of the loudest crowd moments I’ve heard on a golf course in my life.”
How Rory McIlroy reacted to his chip-in after his second round at Augusta National had finished
It is perhaps the shot most likely to be added to the pantheon of iconic Masters moments. While the tee shot on 12 two days later felt more significant, the chip-in was a statement.
And it turns out that McIlroy had made sure to do his homework on that playing from that particular area in the days leading up to the tournament.
“It was tricky. It was up and over. I was landing the ball on a little bit of a slope into the green. So I knew that, as long as I connected or struck it well enough, that the ball was going to check,” he said after his second round.
“I had a good landing spot. So when I hit it, I hit my landing spot perfectly. It came out with the right trajectory and the spin that I thought it was going to have. I couldn’t see the bottom of the flag, so all I saw were the patrons standing up on the grandstand like it had a chance, and it went in.
“Again, I wanted to get it at least level with the bunker, if not beyond the bunker, because I knew that was going to be a better angle for the chip shot. Harry and I talked about that.
“Yeah, that’s just the benefit of having a lot of experience around here is knowing, even if you’re right at that green, whether you’re front right, pin high right, back right, what the different shots are going to be like.
“Laid it up in a good spot and hit a good chip. Bonus that it went in, but yeah.”
When that shot dropped in, it really appeared to be a sign that it was McIlroy’s year to actually enjoy getting across the line and winning The Masters after such a turbulent week 12 months ago.
Ultimately, Augusta National fought back and made McIlroy the first Masters winner to lose strokes to the field over the weekend.
But as we know now, if that chip had not gone in and the rest of the tournament stayed exactly the same, McIlroy would have needed to negotiate a playoff with Scottie Scheffler if he hoped to retain his title.
