Smylie Kaufman’s Insights on Rory McIlroy’s Masters Triumph

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00:00You can catch the Smiley show right here on SportsGrid.

00:04And of course, as he dubbed himself today on X, Grand Slam participant, Smiley Kaufman,

00:11who was with us on Coast to Coast.

00:13Hi, Smiley.

00:14How are you, buddy?

00:14How about the Masters, Smiley?

00:16Unbelievable for Rory.

00:18Oh, my gosh.

00:19It was fantastic.

00:20What a week.

00:22And just trying to play catch up.

00:23I mean, the last two days, everybody's talking about career legacy for Rory McIlroy and what

00:29we witnessed this past Sunday.

00:31It had to be one of the best golf tournaments that we've seen in a very long time.

00:36It really was, Smiley.

00:38It was a tremendous watch.

00:40And there was so much.

00:41You know, I actually said to Scotty the other day, I really thought it was the best sporting

00:47event, period, so far this year.

00:50It was better than the Super Bowl.

00:51It was better than the NCAA tournament.

00:53And obviously, we've got a lot of other things coming our way.

00:55But when you look at the roller coaster, the ups and downs, the hype going in, everyone

01:01thinking Rory versus Bryson.

01:03Bryson's pretty much finished by the turn.

01:05And suddenly, Rose and Ludwig come charging and Rory on 13th.

01:11It was the wildest, what was it, five and a half hours from 2 o'clock to 6.30 that I think

01:18you could possibly ever have.

01:20You had to be loving it.

01:21I mean, it felt like longer than that, too, because it was just painful, right?

01:25It was so hard watching Rory McIlroy try to close out the career Grand Slam and to do

01:32it at Augusta National as well.

01:33The Masters, the Green Jacket, the one that got away, the storyline was fantastic.

01:38And when he hit it in the water on 13, Mike, I could not believe my eyes, what I had witnessed.

01:44It's probably maybe one of the easiest shots as far as just what you had to do in that

01:49scenario.

01:51I mean, it was as easy as it gets for Rory McIlroy and somehow hits it in the water.

01:55Next thing you know, he's bogeying the 14th, which I thought was maybe the easiest hole

01:59that day with where the hole location was cut.

02:01So he goes double on a par five and then bogey on an easy par four.

02:05And then now he's got to make magic happen.

02:07And that shot, he did on the 15th hole, 16th hole, 17th hole with those irons.

02:13I'll never forget it.

02:14Just absolutely clutch.

02:17And then he gets 18 after an amazing drive and hits in the bunker.

02:21I'm like, oh, my gosh, it's happening again.

02:23And I was like, is he going to lose this?

02:25So that constant back and forth of is he going to, is he going to choke this away or is he

02:31going to win was fascinating.

02:33And the shot out of the bunker was great.

02:36The shot out of the bunker on 18 was unbelievable.

02:40And then he misses a punt reminiscent of the U.S. Open last year to force the playoff,

02:45which was just, the whole thing was wild.

02:46Now, let me ask you this, because I've seen this talked about a lot.

02:49And I know you guys talked about it on the show, too.

02:52This now removes a massive weight off of this guy.

02:55This is all this guy thought about was winning the Masters, getting the jacket,

02:59having the career Grand Slam.

03:00He's now, Smiley, done it all.

03:03There's nothing else left for him in terms of, you know, accolades and things to get.

03:09All he can do now, Smiley, is stack them up and get more and more.

03:13Will this free up Rory to where he can win one, two, three, four more major championships?

03:20I think it very well could.

03:22And it's such a good major season for him.

03:25Clearly getting off to a great start, winning a green jacket.

03:28But where he heads to next, he blew the field away last year at the Wells Fargo.

03:34Talking about Quail Hollow, where the PGA Championship is going to be.

03:37So right now you're thinking, OK, there's a good chance he goes back to back major champions,

03:42major championships, I should say.

03:44And, you know, the rest of the year you got Oakmont, which is a big piece of property,

03:48helps to be a long player there.

03:49And then he's been fantastic at U.S. Opens, too.

03:52If you go back and look at his record, how good he's been.

03:55And then he's looking for revenge from last season.

03:58And then, of course, the Royal Portrush.

04:00I mean, this is Northern Ireland.

04:02He's a little bit of a revenge, too, for that and missing the cut there back in 19.

04:07So, I mean, I'm not saying he's going to win all the majors this year.

04:10All I'm saying is he's going to most likely have a chance to win one,

04:14if not more, of the next three majors this season.

04:17Some really good spots for him, as you mentioned.

04:20I got about a minute left.

04:21We go from the green jacket to the tartan jacket.

04:24The RBC Heritage this week out at Hilton Head.

04:26I love this tournament, Smiley.

04:28Who do you love this week?

04:30You know what?

04:31I think Colin Morikawa's just, you know, he's still got a lot to play for.

04:36Hasn't won this season.

04:37The odds, of course, for Scottie at plus 360.

04:40That's kind of absurd.

04:43I would, you know, this golf course, right, Mike?

04:45You just got to look at who's who could put the ball in the fairway

04:49and who's got a really good iron game.

04:51You can make a lot of putts on these greens,

04:53but it starts with being really good from that 130 to 160 range.

04:59You need to be very dialed in and you got to, you know,

05:02you can't have those outlier drives along with that.

05:05But it's always windy there.

05:07It's a fun golf course to watch and should be a fun week.

05:11Smiley Tophman, check out the Smiley Show right here on SportsCenter.

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