Martin: Final thoughts from a memorable Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. – One last dispatch from the Starbucks on Washington Road with some final thoughts, scenes and observations after one of the most memorable Masters of our lifetimes:

1. Scottie Scheffler teed off three groups ahead of Rory McIlroy on Sunday, but there were members of Scheffler’s immediate family among the patrons surrounding the 17th green. They were peering through the green mesh that encircles the grandstand left of the green, desperate like everyone else to see where McIlroy’s approach shot ended up.

It speaks to the immensity of the moment, that the family of the world’s No. 1 player – including his mother and sisters – had circled back to watch in person. They could have just as easily watched from the comfort of the clubhouse’s grill room, a popular gathering place for everyone from Augusta National members to media. The TVs in there are the easiest way to follow the final holes, when the number of patrons makes it difficult to see what’s happening.

2. Awaiting McIlroy’s emergence from Butler Cabin was a surreal scene. A handful of Augusta National employees and security guards stood at the door, their hands folded over each other at waist high like groomsmen at a wedding. It had a weighty feel. Patrons lined the path to the putting green, where the trophy ceremony would be held. They were as silent as if they were standing next to a tee as a player addressed his ball. It felt like collective shock, thousands of people trying to process what they’d seen over the past few hours and what it all meant.

When McIlroy emerged from behind the building, led by two lines of three police officers, a security guard waved his hand toward the silent patrons and mouthed the word, “Clap.” The patrons seemed unaware of the appropriate reaction in that moment, remaining in silence for a few seconds before the cheers and chants began.

3. After the trophy ceremony, the champion gets on a cart waiting on the first tee. McIlroy sat on the back seat, facing toward the tee as the cart zipped down the fairway. He waved to patrons as he checked his text messages and made a call. No one seemed to mind that he was on his cell phone, an exception to Augusta National’s most famous rule. McIlroy waved to the patrons as he rode by, eventually disappearing from view as the cart drove toward the Press Building for his press conference. The setting sun created a vibrant orange sky behind the eighth green.

4. Because information is relayed at Augusta National via manual scoreboard instead of megabytes and pixels on personal devices, the changing of the scoreboards creates communal reactions that sound similar to when a ball lands close to the hole or in the water. Everyone sees the latest scores at the same time. As McIlroy waited by the 13th green for Bryson DeChambeau to putt out, there was an audible groan from 300 yards away. The large scoreboard right of No. 15 had just delivered the news of McIlroy’s double. Even he looked over at the noise before realizing that he was the cause of it.

It was followed seconds later by the shocked reaction of the patrons surrounding the 14th tee after they saw Justin Rose’s birdie posted. In a matter of moments, McIlroy’s three-shot lead had been erased.

A lot of people, McIlroy included, say they love Augusta National’s cell-phone ban because it means the fans are more engaged, paying closer attention to the action. But I came to appreciate it for a different reason this week. The lack of cell phones means you have to embrace uncertainty while on the grounds at Augusta National.

You can’t immediately know every player’s score or how they made birdie three holes earlier. When you want to meet up with someone at the Masters, you have to set the time and place in advance. If they don’t show up at the prescribed time, you can’t fire off a quick text to learn their location. And, maybe most importantly, being at the Masters forces you to ask another person for the answer to your query instead of consulting a search engine.

That feeling of uncertainty is one we don’t encounter often because we have all of the world’s information at the fingertips. While constant certainty – the ability to immediately know the answer to any question – may seem like a good thing, I realized this week that it also causes us to lack something, though.

Living in uncertainty encourages curiosity. It forces us to embrace our finitude. And, paradoxically, there is comfort in embracing our own limitations instead of falling for the lie of our own self-sufficiency, which our cell phones encourage.

5. I’m a sucker for those tearful walks by the winner from the 18th green, but especially McIlroy’s. To see someone unmoored from such an immense burden is freeing. Of course, there is survivorship bias in that moment. We don’t see the thousands who fell short of the same goal. But observing the achievement of a lifelong dream cannot help but fill you with optimism.

The moments after McIlroy’s victory were a reminder that it’s OK to hope. To care. To hurt. And to believe.

6. I called Padraig Harrington on Sunday to get some perspective from one of golf’s great observers and thinkers. I wanted to get his thoughts on McIlroy and all of the changes he’s discussed this year – the more disciplined course management, the better control with his short irons and improved short game – and how they contributed to the impending victory.

The expectations for McIlroy are always high – no less than Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson all picked him to win this week – and there’s always a search, by him and us, to see which small change will lead to the success that is expected of him. Harrington reminded me that the simplest answer is often the right one. Sure, players are always trying to improve but the simple answer for why he won the Masters is that he’s one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

“Look, Rory's been the best player in the world for 15 years. People have come and gone in that period of time,” he said. “The fact of the matter is he believes it is and that's all that counts. … He looks very comfortable and very confident. He really does. He clearly believes right now he's the best player in the game.”

It should be noted that this quote was delivered when McIlroy was on the seventh hole, before the chaos of the second nine. The changes he’s made this year have surely contributed to that confidence, but sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. It goes back to the quote McIlroy’s former caddie gave years ago: “You’re Rory f—ing McIlroy.”