The Masters turned at Amen Corner. It was Rory McIlroy's happy accident

Advice Rory McIlroy received from Tom Watson during a 2009 practice round at Augusta National came into play on the 12th tee Sunday. Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images Share full articleAUGUSTA, Ga. — The beauty of the amphitheater around Amen Corner lies in the thousands upon thousands of people surrounding it. Those who speedwalk through the gates at 7 a.m. to place their Masters chairs behind the 12th tee and never leave. The ones who ultimately know this shot better than anyone on the property Sunday, because these stalwarts have already seen 52 attempts over the water to the most famous tiny green in golf. They’re smart enough to know the play. They know you’re supposed to play it safe to the center on Sunday, aiming between the bunkers that frame the north and south edges of the green. They know the stories of the fools who dared to dream, only to watch those hopes roll into Rae’s Creek. But the patrons want to see beauty. They want golfing greatness. So they camp, and they wait, and they judge. You heard the subtle yet audible moans as they saw the approaches go center or left. Greatttttt. Another safe play. And they saw those safe players get punished from their places atop the leaderboard. They saw Russell Henley bogey from the back. They saw Justin Rose flub a chip. Scottie Scheffler settled for par. Somebody, just somebody, give us a show. Then, they saw Rory McIlroy’s ball drift to the right, and they gasped. He went for it … to win the Masters. But, they didn’t know — the most important shot of McIlroy’s title defense was kind of an accident. This section of the property does funny things to people. The 12th at Augusta National — “Golden Bell” — is so short, just 155 yards. It’s so enticing, a beautiful scene enveloped by loblolly pines. There’s so much lore, from the swirling, perplexing winds to all the infamous disasters that have happened here. It’s where Greg Norman’s fate was sealed in ‘96. Where Jordan Spieth changed his mind and gave Danny Willett a green jacket in ‘16. Where Tiger Woods outsmarted every other contender in ‘19. History says if anyone remembers your 12th tee shot, you’ve done something wrong. So if anybody was to walk up that hill and know to be careful, it should have been McIlroy. His round, and his tournament, were messy. He couldn’t drive the golf ball at all the first few days. He had the lefts on Saturday. The man was contending at the Masters through nothing but discipline and course knowledge. Don’t fly too close to the sun, you fool. Yet there he was. McIlroy walked up to the hill after a par on No. 11 and stood right of the tee with his caddie, Harry Diamond, who read the yardage book and calmly stayed to the plan. “You still thinking middle of the trap?” Harry asked. He had just regained the Masters lead. He’d ridden yet another rollercoaster of McIlroy-specific drama, from the double bogey on No. 4 to the bogey on 6. He trailed by three shots, but birdies on 7 and 8 reduced the damage. Meanwhile, Rose entered Amen Corner with a two-shot lead. The 45-year-old who lost to McIlroy in a playoff a year ago finally had another chance. But again, this heavenly corner does things, and Rose bogeyed 11 before playing it safe on 12. His ball sat up on the fringe behind the green, and his careful chip didn’t quite reach. In just minutes, Rose went from two ahead to one behind his Ryder Cup teammate. Even CBS’ broadcast knew the right play. Jim Nantz set the stage: “Rory is such a veteran here. He knows what he is supposed to do.” And McIlroy waited. He looked at the flag up ahead, looking to see how the wind blew. He looked to his left, seeing how different it was on 11. He looked up to the trees, because the true challenge of 12 is the way the winds change the higher the ball flight. It changed every direction. Diamond even walked 10 feet ahead to get a proper feel. It all went back to McIlroy’s first Masters in 2009. He played a practice round with the great Tom Watson, who gave the 19-year-old prodigy some advice. “He always waited until he felt where the wind should be and then just hit it,” McIlroy recalled. “Just hit it as soon as you can.” The teenager listened. He never forgot. And as he held the 9-iron in his hand, he felt it for sure. The wind was in from the left. “That’s it,” he said curtly. Diamond scurried out of the way, McIlroy then hit his new signature three-quarter shot, but it faded to the right. That eager, desperate crowd leaned forward in their seats. A collective “ohhhh” scored the amphitheater. This could go so wrong. It could go so right. But my goodness, we were finally getting a show. It was perfect. It landed just right of the edge of the bunker line but in the center of the green, then spun to the right and down the slope to seven feet. McIlroy and Diamond shared a quick glance, as if to say they got a little lucky. As McIlroy took off his glove, Diamond cracked a cheeky grin and chuckled to himself. “Probably didn’t anticipate it to drift as far right as it did,” McIlroy said, the green jacket on his shoulders. “That’s why you give yourself a little bit of margin for error.” Golf Digest swing expert Luke Kerr-Dineen suggested McIlroy was indeed aiming for the middle, but because he spent Saturday night and Sunday morning focusing on getting his lower body through the shot more to counter his Saturday lefts. Mixed with leaving the face open and, perhaps, some adrenaline, his push was a perfect little accident. Cameron Young, one shot behind him, aimed on a similar line. It took until the final group, but Young elicited a second set of cheerful gasps. His ball went right and landed 14 feet from the pin, but he missed the birdie putt. Young, tied with McIlroy through eight holes, shot even par on the back and finished T3. “Gave myself all the chances in the world and just didn’t make them,” Young said. But as soon as their shots hit the green, those masses around Amen Corner packed up their chairs and started moving to the next spot. The day was done here. No more golf shots to see. The grandstands quickly dwindled to a quarter full. Except two young gentlemen, beers in hand, who said, “I’m not gonna wait here all day and then not see the putt.” They stayed to see McIlroy make the seven-footer, jumping to 12-under par and in control of the Masters. Once that putt fell, everybody accepted they could leave. One older man said to his buddy, “Those were the two best shots we saw there all day!” McIlroy went on to birdie 13 to increase his lead. Despite some more McIlroy-esque shenanigans, he closed out his back-to-back Masters wins at 12-under par. And on one of the strangest, messiest, brilliant Masters wins in recent memory, McIlroy — the man who said his motto all week was to stay aggressive — won it because he went for the one pin you’re never supposed to attack. Sort of. ​”It’s not a hole that you’re trying to birdie,” the champion said. “It was a bonus that I did.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Brody Miller covers golf and the LSU Tigers for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A South Jersey native, Miller graduated from Indiana University before going on to stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Clarion Ledger and NOLA.com. Follow Brody on Twitter @BrodyAMiller