Martin Dempster joins Mark Atkinson to discuss the Masters.
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00:00Hello and welcome to this special episode of the Scotsman Golf Show.
00:06My name is Mark Atkinson, sports editor, and today I'm joined by our chief golf correspondent,
00:12Martin Dempster, the morning after the night before for him and many others over in Augusta,
00:19Georgia, after Rory McIlroy finally got his hands on the current title in a thrilling
00:25end to the 89th edition of this great tournament. Martin, I can't begin to imagine what it was
00:32like watching a bit of golfing and sporting history taking place in front of your very
00:37eyes. Tell us how it was last night.
00:40Morning, Mark. It's a glorious morning here in Augusta and the birds certainly seem to
00:45be happy that Rory McIlroy is the new Masters champion, as you say, completed the Korea
00:51Grand Slam. He had 10 previous attempts to become just a sixth player to do that, and
00:58he'd suffered heartache along the way. There was no doubt that history was weighing on his
01:03shoulders heavily every time he came here, and yesterday he got it done, but oh my God,
01:11it was just incredible today's golf, the ups and downs. I've never seen anything like it,
01:18to be honest, in a final day in a major. He did his best to throw it away, and if he had
01:24done that, I fear to think the scars it would have left. Thankfully, he won. Justin Rose produced
01:36a brilliant last round, 66. He'd finished runner-up here two times before in 2015-2017, losing
01:44a play-off to Sergio Garcia in the latter. He got himself into a play-off again this time.
01:50He almost hold his second shot at the 18th, the first play-off hold. Justin about to run
01:55on a little bit, and then Rory sticks his second shot into three feet. Justin misses.
02:01Rory wins, and I mean, the emotion that poured out thereafter was just palpable, and no wonder.
02:08This has been a tough gig to pull off. He deserves it, and golf enjoyed a day to remember yesterday.
02:18He's a very popular winner, Martin, isn't he, Rory McIlroy. I think there were so many people
02:23that I spoke to over the weekend when I was out covering football and just talking to friends
02:28about how they were desperate to see Rory do it. He's one of the sport's most gifted golfers,
02:34and you mentioned that he's joining an elite club, but he's more than worthy of being in that club,
02:39isn't he?
02:40Very much so. I mean, it bugs me at times that people dislike Rory, and that's their opinion.
02:47Over here in America, they absolutely love him. He was up against Bryson DeChambeau in the final
02:53group yesterday. There was a lot of support for him, but there was no doubt the majority wanted
02:58to see Rory come out on top. I loved the fact he did. Some of the golf Rory played this week
03:06was the best I've seen from him. He actually didn't play that great in the final round.
03:11His driving wasn't the best. He hit a wedge at 13 that was just criminal. He played safe,
03:19laid up, and then put a wedge in the water. At that point, you were fearing the worst for him.
03:23Obviously, all the bad memories were coming back. The shot he hit around trees at 15 didn't eagle
03:29it for the second day running, but that was an important birthday. That was a shot he hit
03:33into 17. The names, Gene Sarrazin, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods,
03:41and now Rory McIlroy. He certainly deserves his place in that elite company.
03:45He absolutely does. I want to talk a little bit about Justin Rose and also Bryson DeChambeau
03:52as well, who were very much on the premises until the very, very end. How big a blow is
03:59it for Rose? You talked before about how close he's come recently. He almost takes the mantle
04:06of the newly man from Rory in the back of this. It must be tough for him to deal with.
04:12Yeah, you felt for Justin, the way he played yesterday. At the same time, we're all pulling
04:18for Rory just because of the sort of history that he was trying to create. But Rose played
04:25some great stuff. I mean, he held a putt across the 18th green. That's what you dream of doing,
04:30to give yourself a chance to win in the Masters. And if Rory hadn't come out on top, it would
04:38have been a fantastic victory for Justin. He's got a great record here. He's now finished
04:44second in the last two majors, having been pipped by Xander Shoffley in the Open at Royal
04:51Troon last year, Mark. So he's going to go on to the next one, the PGA Championship at
04:56Quail Hollow, the US Open at Oakmont, and then the Open at Portrush. Feeling he's got
05:01a good chance of adding a second major. And of course, there's a wee thing called the
05:07Ryder Cup coming up in September. And by the looks of things, Justin Rose, who was fantastic
05:12in Rome, is going to be involved in that again.
05:16Absolutely. I mean, there's so many great options, isn't there, for the Ryder Cup when
05:20you look at how European players are on the circuit and performing well. And was this a
05:27reminder to us all about how special golf can be? We've talked a lot, Mark, on this show
05:34about how there's political wrangling and there's factions and divisions. But when you
05:40get down to it and you get into these incredible events, it's still one of the greatest sports
05:44out there.
05:46Yeah, this was undoubtedly golf's greatest day for a long time. Just the history, but
05:52the way it was created, the way everything panned out, the drama. It was fantastic viewing,
06:00half viewing at times, just with the way things were taking shape at certain times in the day.
06:05But yeah, it's been a tough two or three years for golf. There's still nothing that beats
06:11these world top players playing on the same stage. They only do that four times a year
06:16now due to the division in the game through Liv coming in. We've still got to wait and see
06:23exactly how that's all going to pan out. But the sheer enjoyment, drama that unfolded yesterday,
06:33it was really, really special just to witness that. And who knows what Rory can go on to achieve
06:42now, Mark? I mean, it's taken 11 years to add this fifth major. He never doubted that he would
06:49win another major, but it's tough to do that. It's tough to win any golf tournament. But now he's
06:55finally kick-started things again. Who knows what he can go on to achieve?
06:59It's going to be fascinating to watch, Martin. I suppose from our perspective,
07:03from a Scotsman perspective, the only thing that would have topped Rory McIlroy winning
07:09the Masters would have been Bob McIntyre winning the Masters. It wasn't to be for Bob.
07:12He's done well in Georgia in the past, but he missed the cut. He said himself that certain
07:19elements of his game let him down. But look, we know what a class act Bob is. How do you expect
07:25him to react from what was, by his own admission, a fairly difficult week?
07:30Yeah, no, he was disappointed to miss the cut. There's no doubt about that. He came back here
07:34feeling he was a better player than his previous two appearances when he finished 12th and just
07:39outside the top 20. It was interesting that from T to Green, he matched Justin Rose's starts
07:47in the opening two rounds. It was his partner that let him down. He described that as abysmal.
07:53He's off to Hilton Head for the RBC Heritage, which is one of the PGA Tours signature events.
08:01Big money in that, big points in that. And then heads into the three other majors. Bob's big goal
08:08this year is to challenge in the majors and then get in that Ryder Cup team. He certainly played well
08:16enough T to Green here to show that he can contend in majors. He can contend here one day. And
08:24here's hoping that things look up very quickly for Bob and I'm sure they will, Mark.
08:30Excellent, Martin. It looks like a beautiful morning where you are. Not quite as sunny as
08:36it has been in the past week back in Scotland. Is it a mad dash home now for you? Or have you
08:43got time to enjoy some more Georgian sunshine?
08:46No, just some follow-up stuff. Then I have a tradition like no other. I go for lunch in
08:53Augusta Mall with an Irish colleague. And then we drive up the road to Atlanta and then an
08:58overnight flight home to Scotland, Mark. So absolutely tremendous thrill to be here again,
09:06but ready to get home.
09:09Good stuff, Martin. Well, I know for a fact there are plenty more pieces to come from you
09:13before you board that plane back to Scotland. Dave travels. Thanks for joining us this morning
09:19from Georgia. And to the viewers, please log on to the website and pick up a paper for all of
09:25Martin's reports, columns, analysis, etc. After an amazing end to the 89th edition of the Masters.
09:32From myself and Martin, it's bye from now.