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00:00The Masters Tournament delivers again, and this time we got some more history,
00:04and it involved Rory McIlroy winning back-to-back green jackets.
00:08Yes, Rory has won back-to-back green jackets at the Augusta National Golf Club,
00:13cementing his place, in my opinion, in golf's elite,
00:15and reminding everybody what Rory looks like when we see him at his peak.
00:20A fantastic finish, and this was a very interesting tournament
00:23in which Rory had a huge lead, got a little close after he lost it,
00:27but then he was able to close it out in the end.
00:29So joining me to break it all down, talk about the 2026 Masters,
00:33is a golf enthusiast and analyst.
00:36He's also the host of Ask the Experts with Curran Bhatia.
00:39My guy, Curran Bhatia, joins me now.
00:42Curran, how are you doing, my friend? How's it going?
00:45Dexter, it's always an exciting time when major season is upon us.
00:50We're all excited, and of course, we have to talk about our guy, Rory McIlroy.
00:55I know we talked about this just one year ago, the amazing win he had,
00:59and who would have thought back-to-back?
01:01It wasn't without some drama, but that's what we'd like to see, right?
01:04So it's the human condition, and I know we're going to get into it,
01:07but I'm very excited to chat with you, my friend, and let's get into it.
01:11Yeah, no, always excited to talk to you, and you're right.
01:13We spoke last year when Rory won his first green jacket at Augusta National,
01:18and so now he goes back-to-back, Curran.
01:20We see that he goes back-to-back, something that we have not seen often
01:23in the modern era of golf.
01:26So how much does this second straight green jacket for Rory McIlroy
01:30change his place in golf history and the all-time conversation that we have
01:35when we talk about Rory McIlroy?
01:37How much does winning the second green jacket change the way we talk about him
01:40in golf history?
01:41Going back-to-back for Rory McIlroy cements his place as one of golf's all-time greats.
01:49Now, doing so, back-to-back at the Masters, right, the most prestigious major
01:54in all of golf, he joins rarefied air.
01:58Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods.
02:01That is the company that Rory McIlroy now joins.
02:04That's one hell of a foursome.
02:05I'd like to see that foursome tee it up one day, mythically, right?
02:08That would be a great foursome.
02:09But incredible company for Rory McIlroy.
02:12Not only that, Rory now wins his sixth major.
02:16That puts him at 12 all-time, tied with Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson.
02:21And I think the biggest thing we learned about Rory is his resilience, right?
02:25We saw it last year on 18, right?
02:28He had to go into a playoff, and it was incredible
02:30because he was going for the career Grand Slam,
02:32something he couldn't do before, and he finally got over that peak.
02:35This year, it wasn't without drama because he's cruising halfway through.
02:40He's historically ahead, and then it all goes away.
02:43And we thought, okay, well, we've seen this ride with Rory before, right?
02:46That rollercoaster ups and downs.
02:47But he was able to get it done.
02:49And more importantly, like we said,
02:51this cements his place as one of the all-time greats.
02:54So congratulations to Rory McIlroy.
02:56Yeah, no, huge congrats to him.
02:58And you kind of hit on where I'd like to go next in this conversation, Curran,
03:02because when you look at this tournament, this 2026 Masters,
03:06Rory, as you mentioned, you said to use the word cruising.
03:09He's cruising.
03:10He has a six-shot lead.
03:11We see it evaporate.
03:13But then he's able to regroup on Sunday in the final round and do that.
03:18So what does that say to you about his resolve here?
03:22Because that's something that was questioned about Rory earlier in his career.
03:25But we've seen him come through in one of the biggest stages,
03:29one of the biggest majors, in back-to-back years.
03:31What does that tell you about his resolve to, you know,
03:34and his mental game here right now to capture the second green jacket?
03:39And how much have you seen him evolve as a closer
03:41when it comes to winning these major tournaments?
03:44Rory has upped and upped and upped that mental level,
03:47that closer ability, right?
03:50And the reason for that is you look at Rory McIlroy.
03:53When he was just a boy, he was on UK television,
03:56on late-night shows, hitting balls into a washing machine, right?
03:58They were saying, this is going to be the next great golfer.
04:01And so the expectations were huge.
04:03And when you have those expectations on your shoulders,
04:06you can either rise to that level,
04:07or you can, at certain points, choke and lose that, right?
04:10Because it's such a big weight to carry.
04:12And Rory had to carry that for so long.
04:14But I think what we learned about Rory last year at the Masters,
04:17and now again this year,
04:18is that he has the ability that those great athletes have,
04:22which is that instant reframe.
04:24Now, on 18, last year at the Masters,
04:27he had a chance to win.
04:28He missed the putt.
04:30And what his caddy told him,
04:31as they were going back to the 18th hole to start the playoff,
04:34his longtime caddy and friend said to Rory,
04:37he said, hey, we would have taken this on Monday,
04:40saying, earlier in the week,
04:42we would have loved this position
04:43to be in a chance for a playoff to win.
04:45So if you look at now, fast forward one more year,
04:48halfway through this tournament,
04:50Rory was historically ahead.
04:52He was over six strokes ahead,
04:54which has never been done before at the Masters.
04:56So he had such a big lead
04:58that you thought he was going to cruise to a victory.
05:00That lead quickly evaporated.
05:02And at one point, Rory was three strokes back in the final round.
05:05So I think Rory then went back to that same quote,
05:09we would have killed for this.
05:10You would have killed for a chance
05:11to win your second back-to-back green jacket.
05:14And so Rory had to do that instant reframe.
05:16And what that meant was, besides the 18th hole,
05:19a bogey-free round.
05:20Earlier in the front nine, he had a double bogey.
05:23He had a bogey.
05:24So it just wasn't going his way.
05:25But he was able to get that instant reframe.
05:27And it's actually a good lesson
05:28that I think we can all look at
05:29and other athletes can look at is,
05:31even when it gets tough,
05:32whatever position you're in,
05:34if you still have a chance,
05:35you would have killed for that chance.
05:36And Rory said that last year.
05:38He said, I would have given my right arm
05:39to go into a playoff on 18.
05:40So similar situation here.
05:42And he was able to have that reframe,
05:44get that impressive finish through the Masters.
05:48And now back-to-back green jackets for Rory McIlroy.
05:50Yeah, back-to-back green jackets for Rory McIlroy.
05:53I guess when you look at the whole tournament,
05:55Curran, what part of his game
05:57do you think was the biggest difference maker
05:59in him capturing his second straight green jacket
06:02here in 2026?
06:04For me, Rory McIlroy's biggest asset
06:07isn't what he can do physically with the golf club.
06:09It's mental resilience.
06:12He has all the pressure in the world.
06:14If you watch the broadcast of the Masters,
06:17his home club in Hollywood, Northern Ireland,
06:20they're watching him.
06:21He's got them, he's representing them.
06:23And that all goes back to Rory McIlroy
06:25being a young boy playing at Hollywood Golf Club
06:28in Northern Ireland with these dreams
06:30to be one of the greatest golfers of all time.
06:31And now we're seeing those dreams manifest
06:33as a 36-year-old who just captured his sixth major.
06:36But it really took a lot of resilience.
06:39And he had great golfers.
06:41Scotty Scheffler, world number one.
06:43Cameron Young, world number three.
06:45Right?
06:46Breathing down his neck, not making it easy.
06:48Justin Rose also, who was in the playoff
06:50with him last year, made a charge.
06:52So it wasn't like this was handed to Rory in any way.
06:54He had massive opponents here,
06:57legends of the game chasing him.
06:58But he was able to get that resilience,
07:00that mental fortitude to get to the next level
07:03and to stay steady, give himself a chance.
07:06And I think the biggest thing to look at
07:08is that drive on 18.
07:10Rory drove it right into the woods.
07:12That was a mistake.
07:13But he said, okay, hey, I got to get over a tree,
07:17get into Sand Trap, make five, win this thing.
07:19He was able to do that.
07:20So that all goes back to that mental fortitude.
07:23So incredible by Rory McIlroy.
07:25It all goes back to that kid with the dream.
07:27It was said on the broadcast
07:28that Rory actually played around on Friday last week
07:33with his dad.
07:33And what they did is they reminisced about the journey,
07:36right, the journey.
07:37So he would have given his right arm
07:38to be in this position when he was a kid.
07:40So he had that position now
07:41and he was able to take advantage of it.
07:43He was definitely able to take advantage of it,
07:45came up clutch.
07:45Wasn't easy, but he came up clutch there.
07:48I guess to wrap this conversation,
07:50Curran, when you look at Rory,
07:52and we have to say it back to back,
07:54Green Jackets is dominating at Augusta again.
07:56Where does the balance of power
07:58lie in men's golf right now?
08:00Is this still a wide open error?
08:03Or are we watching the start
08:05of another Rory-led run at the top?
08:08Where does the balance of power,
08:10excuse me, lie right now in men's golf?
08:12It's a very exciting time in men's golf.
08:16And if you look at Rory McIlroy,
08:18he just got the career Grand Slam last year
08:20at the Masters, meaning he won every major championship.
08:25Now, Rory maybe has a chance to do it again, right?
08:28And get two career Grand Slams.
08:30And that would put him into even more rarefied air.
08:33Like we said, he's already joined company
08:34with these back-to-back Masters wins,
08:37which has only been done three times before.
08:39Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Nick Faldo.
08:41So he's already put himself in rarefied air.
08:43We said Rory McIlroy now 12th on that all-time list,
08:45tied with Phil Mickelson,
08:46tied with Lee Trevino, sixth major.
08:48So I think Rory McIlroy,
08:50this second half of his career,
08:51this latter half,
08:52I think he's gonna be a big problem for a lot of people
08:54because he said it himself.
08:56I'm able to swing freely.
08:58I just need to remember that I can win a green jacket
09:01because I've already done it.
09:02Hey, now he's won two.
09:04So I think Rory McIlroy being able to swing freely
09:07and get rid of those swing thoughts
09:09and just do what he does best,
09:11something he's done since he was a little kid,
09:12I think he's gonna be a problem.
09:13So Rory McIlroy, world number two.
09:15Also in the landscape,
09:16you can never count out the world's number one,
09:19Scotty Scheffler.
09:19He was this close on 17 to getting a birdie,
09:22to putting himself right into a tie for first place.
09:25And that is Scotty Scheffler,
09:26who started at even
09:27and was able to get it down to negative 11.
09:29So in the last two rounds, incredible feat.
09:32And then 28-year-old Cameron Young,
09:35world number three.
09:36He's also gonna be a problem for a long time.
09:38And he's gonna make his statement.
09:39And he won the prestigious players championship.
09:42And a lot of majors are most likely
09:44in the future of Cameron Young.
09:45He looks absolutely unflappable.
09:47In addition, it's also a really exciting time for golf
09:50because one issue we were dealing with
09:52in the sport of golf
09:53was a lot of golfers had jumped to live.
09:55And that meant we weren't gonna see the best golfers
09:57going against each other every Sunday, right?
10:00John Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau,
10:02Brooks Koepka, and many others.
10:04Well, now it looks like some players
10:06are coming back to the PGA Tour.
10:08Brooks Koepka did that.
10:09There's rumors that Bryson DeChambeau
10:11might have that in his mind as well.
10:13So it's an exciting time for golf
10:14where we might start to again see
10:16the best players in the world competing.
10:18And to put a button on it all,
10:20I think this really sets up Rory
10:22for his late 30s.
10:23He's 36 years old.
10:24He's got six major championships now.
10:27Back-to-back Masters winners.
10:28Two green jackets for Rory McIlroy.
10:30He's gonna go on a tear now, I think,
10:32in the second half of his career,
10:34this back half of his career.
10:35And it's gonna be incredible to watch.
10:36So I'm really excited for it.
10:37Yeah, back nine of Rory's career
10:38might be a really good one.
10:40It's gotten off to a pretty good start
10:41in the last two years
10:42with back-to-back Green Jackets
10:44for Rory McIlroy capturing
10:45the 2026 Masters down at Augusta
10:48and almost blew it,
10:50but showed that resilience.
10:52The R-word used by Curran Bhatia here.
10:54Check out Curran Bhatia hosting.
10:56Ask the experts for Curran Bhatia.
10:58Always does a great job with me
10:59talking about the sport of golf.
11:02Curran, I know you enjoyed the Masters.
11:03Always a pleasure to talk some golf with you.
11:05We'll do it again soon.
11:07Always a pleasure to talk with you, Dexter.
11:08And I think days like today, we said resilience,
11:11but it's also the human condition, right?
11:13Everyone goes through ups and downs in life.
11:15And it's not what you do to get knocked down,
11:17but how you get back up.
11:18Rory McIlroy showed that today at the Masters
11:21to collect his second back-to-back Green Jacket.
11:23And I think it's a lesson that we can all take in life.
11:25So great thing to see in sports and a great day
11:28and hopefully inspiring to all of us.
11:30So Dexter, thank you so much for the time.
11:32Anytime, my friend.
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