My Masters recap – or a week with the McIlroy family

If you are a fan of the sport of golf, this past week had you taking in the Masters from Augusta, Georgia. Unless you have been hiding under a rock you are aware of the fact that the victor in this major tournament was Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy. He became the sixth golfer to become a lifetime winner in all four of golf's majors.When you join the likes of Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods you have indeed put your name on a short list of golf's greatest players. Several years ago a young Rory McIlroy was surely going to achieve the career slam, but then he went into a slump and everyone was wondering if he would ever "master" Augusta National.Finally he topped the scoreboard in a wild final round on Sunday. McIlroy held a two stroke lead entering the day over Bryson DeChambeau. Two holes in and he was a stroke behind. The rest of the day was a roller coaster ride caused, in my opinion, by the course itself.That is not a knock on the course. It is a statement about the difficulty of the layout. You don't have to miss a shot by much to be penalized severely. Sure some bad shots happen, but a foot here or six inches there and a par becomes a double bogey. The course does play the same for everyone and despite a 72nd hole bogey that led to a playoff, McIlroy came back to birdie that same 18th hole to win a playoff over long time friend Justin Rose.It was exciting and I enjoyed the day immensely. I am also happy for Rory McIlroy. His emotionswere released as the final putt dropped into the hole. It was easy to see that the tournament meant so much to him.The week began on a cool note. Augusta National always holds a par 3 tournament on the day before the actual tournament begins. This is a fun event as golfers take family members with them on the course. Each family member wears a white caddie outfit and you can find children and spouses tagging along with their favorite professional golfer.Every year it seems something crazy happens in this laid back event. Jack Nicklaus' grandson teed it up and aced a hole a few years ago prompting the Golden Bear to say it was the biggest thrill he's ever had on a golf course. Tony Finau also recorded an ace a couple years back and started running to the green in joy only to dislocate his ankle.What did he do? He just reached down and popped it back into place. He played in the opening round the next day as if nothing had ever happened. I told you something crazy happens every year and this year that "something" was a shot by a McIlroy – just not Rory. His four year old daughter Poppy tapped a ball on the green from some 25 feet away. The ball barely made it to where the green started to slope before picking up speed and dropping straight into the hole! Perhaps the best part of the shot was the reaction from Shane Lowry who was playing alongside his fellow Irishman on this day. He was thrilled and it shows just how human professional athletes can be.As great as the golf was, the days following the tournament drew my attention also. It is always interesting to see how others look at these events. There was controversy (imagine that) and here are some examples. McIlroy never said a word all day to his playing companion DeChambeau during Sunday's round. Some people found that appalling. Scottie Scheffler, last year's winner, followed the tradition of putting the green jacket on the new winner, but then quickly disappeared. Not cool, said some.I also read about a body language expert suggesting what a member of the McIlroy family felt about something and this really got my attention. The expert felt like Erica Stoll (Rory's wife) was unhappy about one of her husbands interviews after the win. The interview was conducted by Amanda Balionis, a golf reporter.Now many of you are aware that about a year ago, Rory filed for divorce from Erica. The breakup lasted a month before things were patched up. Unfortunately there was a lot of rumors going around that Rory and Amanda had started a romantic relationship. If nothing else, that proves that we can never get enough information about our sports stars.For me, I don't need to know what any athlete does off the diamond, court or golf course. It's none of my business. I do wonder though, why a body language expert was studying McIlroy's wife in the first place. I also wonder if they are right about their predictions most of the time.I suppose if a body language expert observed me at an opera or a ballet and suggested that I seemed bored and would rather have been napping – they might have a point. However, I would suggest to you that boredom might not be accurate. Let me point out that: 1) I'm old. 2) I tire easily. 3) I enjoy taking naps. Boredom might not enter into it at all!As for the Masters Tournament, it was a lot of fun to watch. I was happy to see Rory McIlroy get his career grand slam. And last but not least, the highlight of the week for me was watching that putt drop.No, not Rory's tournament winning putt, but Poppy's!