“It’s funny how these things work,” McIlroy said.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Signs from the golfing gods on Masters week are kind of Augusta National’s thing. So it’s hardly surprising that Rory McIlroy received a practically glaring sign in the form of a note in his locker ahead of Sunday’s final round. The thing is, he had no idea how glaring it would be until long after the final putt had dropped.

There were other signs, too. Like McIlroy making double bogey at the first on Sunday, which reminded him of Jon Rahm’s doubling the first hole (on Thursday in 2023) and going on to win. Or, like McIlroy and Justin Rose, who he faced in the sudden death playoff, being invited to a dinner by a few members of the club this past Tuesday night. He and Rose were the only two golfers at that dinner table. Eerie stuff.
“It’s funny how these things work,” McIlroy said.

But neither of those signs were quite as eerie as that aforementioned note, McIlroy explained, because it was somehow a reminder of his final-round collapse in 2011 that has lived with him to this very day.

“What came out of me on the last green there in the playoff was, you know, at least 11 years, if not 14 years of pent-up emotion,” he said. “You know, since 2011, I think it’s so ironic, as well. I got to my locker this morning and I opened it up, and there was a note in there from Angel Cabrera, just wishing me luck. And Angel Cabrera was the player I played with on the final day in 2011, it was a nice touch and a little bit ironic at the same time. It’s been 14 long years, but thankfully I got the job done.”

Spooky.

Cabrera, who was playing in his first Masters since 2019 after serving a 30-month prison sentence for domestic abuse, was alongside McIlroy for all 80 of his painful shots on that Sunday 14 years ago. The 55-year-old Argentinian shot a one-under 71 that year to finish in solo seventh, marking his sixth career Masters top 10 to go along with his 2009 victory. Two years later, he nearly won a second green jacket, losing in a sudden-death playoff to Adam Scott.

Cabrera did not make the cut at this Masters, but competitors, not to mention past champions, are allowed to remain on the grounds and use the tournament facilities on the weekend even if they didn’t make it that far. McIlroy’s legion of fans may have to thank El Pato for spending that extra time on property wisely.