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Smylie Kaufman’s Insights on Rory McIlroy’s Masters Triumph
SportsGrid
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4/15/2025
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🥇
Sports
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00:00
You can catch the Smiley show right here on SportsGrid.
00:04
And of course, as he dubbed himself today on X, Grand Slam participant, Smiley Kaufman,
00:11
who was with us on Coast to Coast.
00:13
Hi, Smiley.
00:14
How are you, buddy?
00:14
How about the Masters, Smiley?
00:16
Unbelievable for Rory.
00:18
Oh, my gosh.
00:19
It was fantastic.
00:20
What a week.
00:22
And just trying to play catch up.
00:23
I mean, the last two days, everybody's talking about career legacy for Rory McIlroy and what
00:29
we witnessed this past Sunday.
00:31
It had to be one of the best golf tournaments that we've seen in a very long time.
00:36
It really was, Smiley.
00:38
It was a tremendous watch.
00:40
And there was so much.
00:41
You know, I actually said to Scotty the other day, I really thought it was the best sporting
00:47
event, period, so far this year.
00:50
It was better than the Super Bowl.
00:51
It was better than the NCAA tournament.
00:53
And obviously, we've got a lot of other things coming our way.
00:55
But when you look at the roller coaster, the ups and downs, the hype going in, everyone
01:01
thinking Rory versus Bryson.
01:03
Bryson's pretty much finished by the turn.
01:05
And suddenly, Rose and Ludwig come charging and Rory on 13th.
01:11
It was the wildest, what was it, five and a half hours from 2 o'clock to 6.30 that I think
01:18
you could possibly ever have.
01:20
You had to be loving it.
01:21
I mean, it felt like longer than that, too, because it was just painful, right?
01:25
It was so hard watching Rory McIlroy try to close out the career Grand Slam and to do
01:32
it at Augusta National as well.
01:33
The Masters, the Green Jacket, the one that got away, the storyline was fantastic.
01:38
And when he hit it in the water on 13, Mike, I could not believe my eyes, what I had witnessed.
01:44
It's probably maybe one of the easiest shots as far as just what you had to do in that
01:49
scenario.
01:51
I mean, it was as easy as it gets for Rory McIlroy and somehow hits it in the water.
01:55
Next thing you know, he's bogeying the 14th, which I thought was maybe the easiest hole
01:59
that day with where the hole location was cut.
02:01
So he goes double on a par five and then bogey on an easy par four.
02:05
And then now he's got to make magic happen.
02:07
And that shot, he did on the 15th hole, 16th hole, 17th hole with those irons.
02:13
I'll never forget it.
02:14
Just absolutely clutch.
02:17
And then he gets 18 after an amazing drive and hits in the bunker.
02:21
I'm like, oh, my gosh, it's happening again.
02:23
And I was like, is he going to lose this?
02:25
So that constant back and forth of is he going to, is he going to choke this away or is he
02:31
going to win was fascinating.
02:33
And the shot out of the bunker was great.
02:36
The shot out of the bunker on 18 was unbelievable.
02:40
And then he misses a punt reminiscent of the U.S. Open last year to force the playoff,
02:45
which was just, the whole thing was wild.
02:46
Now, let me ask you this, because I've seen this talked about a lot.
02:49
And I know you guys talked about it on the show, too.
02:52
This now removes a massive weight off of this guy.
02:55
This is all this guy thought about was winning the Masters, getting the jacket,
02:59
having the career Grand Slam.
03:00
He's now, Smiley, done it all.
03:03
There's nothing else left for him in terms of, you know, accolades and things to get.
03:09
All he can do now, Smiley, is stack them up and get more and more.
03:13
Will this free up Rory to where he can win one, two, three, four more major championships?
03:20
I think it very well could.
03:22
And it's such a good major season for him.
03:25
Clearly getting off to a great start, winning a green jacket.
03:28
But where he heads to next, he blew the field away last year at the Wells Fargo.
03:34
Talking about Quail Hollow, where the PGA Championship is going to be.
03:37
So right now you're thinking, OK, there's a good chance he goes back to back major champions,
03:42
major championships, I should say.
03:44
And, you know, the rest of the year you got Oakmont, which is a big piece of property,
03:48
helps to be a long player there.
03:49
And then he's been fantastic at U.S. Opens, too.
03:52
If you go back and look at his record, how good he's been.
03:55
And then he's looking for revenge from last season.
03:58
And then, of course, the Royal Portrush.
04:00
I mean, this is Northern Ireland.
04:02
He's a little bit of a revenge, too, for that and missing the cut there back in 19.
04:07
So, I mean, I'm not saying he's going to win all the majors this year.
04:10
All I'm saying is he's going to most likely have a chance to win one,
04:14
if not more, of the next three majors this season.
04:17
Some really good spots for him, as you mentioned.
04:20
I got about a minute left.
04:21
We go from the green jacket to the tartan jacket.
04:24
The RBC Heritage this week out at Hilton Head.
04:26
I love this tournament, Smiley.
04:28
Who do you love this week?
04:30
You know what?
04:31
I think Colin Morikawa's just, you know, he's still got a lot to play for.
04:36
Hasn't won this season.
04:37
The odds, of course, for Scottie at plus 360.
04:40
That's kind of absurd.
04:43
I would, you know, this golf course, right, Mike?
04:45
You just got to look at who's who could put the ball in the fairway
04:49
and who's got a really good iron game.
04:51
You can make a lot of putts on these greens,
04:53
but it starts with being really good from that 130 to 160 range.
04:59
You need to be very dialed in and you got to, you know,
05:02
you can't have those outlier drives along with that.
05:05
But it's always windy there.
05:07
It's a fun golf course to watch and should be a fun week.
05:11
Smiley Tophman, check out the Smiley Show right here on SportsCenter.
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