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Chris Paul’s Next Gig After Brutal NBA Exit Revealed: The Point God Goes Back to School

Ex-NBA guard Chris Paul didn’t get a farewell tour. The Point God got a 2 a.m. social media post telling him to go home. No TV booth or front office job.

Read moreChris Paul’s Next Gig After Brutal NBA Exit Revealed: The Point God Goes Back to School

Sophie Cunningham Keeps Ripping Off Her Clothes For SI, Amanda Balionis Had A Big Masters & A Dumb Rory Debate

I mean, did we have fun this weekend, or WHAT? The Masters delivered, as always, even though CBS tried to ruin it. Sure, watching the finish last night didn't exactly hit the same as it used to since I had two kids draped all over me during their post-dinner rush, but we still made it work. As a Scottie Scheffler +900 ticket holder, I was bummed. As a lover of #content, I was pleased with what Augusta gave us. Again, CBS butchered it, but whatever. We'll get into it. It is what it is at this point. Still, it was unfathomable. Anyway, welcome to a Monday Nightcaps — the one where Sophie Cunningham dumps out even more SI Swimsuit content after resigning with Caitlin Clark and the Fever. Good for them, better for us. What else? I've got the best of the rest from a loaded weekend of #content, we'll dive into the final three shots from CBS, and this Artemis II astronaut seems … odd … to me. You'll see. What a moment. OK, let's get this thing going. I've got yet another two-hour meeting this afternoon, which I'm thrilled about. You guys will see why soon enough. Grab you some light European wine to celebrate Thomas Jefferson's 283rd birthday, and settle in for a Monday 'Cap!Didn't see a history lesson coming for our first post-Masters class, did you? Well, that's why we zig while others zag. Or something like that. For those wondering — and that's approximately zero of you – Jefferson loved wine, but once said he was careful to never get tanked on it. According to the American Prohibition Museum, he added that he could pound 3-4 glasses at dinner and still be completely sober. Yeah, sure thing, Mr. President! Whatever you say, pal. The First Lady banned me from red wine years ago. Now, I'm only allowed to have it at weddings, and even then, it's a slippery little slope. Anyway, that's your Ted Talk for today. Not sure it was much of a talk, but whenever an ex-president turns 283, we have to celebrate it. OK, let's get this class going … by NOT celebrating CBS today after an abysmal showing during Sunday's final few minutes (4:07 mark, but I'm sure Augusta will take this video down soon because they are ruthless):Just a stunning fumble by CBS. I was watching live, obviously, but the sound was down, and I had two kids using me as a rock climbing station. But, I was still watching … and waiting. And waiting. And waiting for them to show the ACTUAL GOLF BALL. And they never did. I thought my TV glitched. Seriously. I couldn't believe what I was watching. How does CBS just lose the most important shot of the tournament? It's even worse seeing it again today. CBS and Augusta have been partners forever. Dramatic Jim Nantz told us a billion times this weekend. They've had a longstanding partnership that's been pretty terrific. But this was just inexcusable. NOBODY knew where Rory's ball was. The camera operators had no clue, Jim Nantz had no clue, although he ventured a guess that it was somewhere "around" the green. Dottie Pepper said the "8 iron" was on the way. Trevor Immelman noted that it sounded "solid." It was a full 90 seconds until we FINALLY saw one single golf ball in the bunker. Again, just stunning. Of course, to top it all off, they then showed us Rory's ass instead of the actual putt going in. You had no clue he made it from that angle. None. Again, CBS has been a broadcast partner for 70 years. The LONGEST-RUNNING partnership in sports! And they completely ruined the final 10 minutes. Amazing. OK, let's get to the #content!Solid weekend, everyone. You guys are GRINDING right now. The content is flowing. The Masters is over, and the NFL Draft is on deck. We're two weeks out. A couple thoughts …1. Amanda Balionis had a dominant weekend. Good to see her perform under pressure. 2. Busch Light Apple is BACK. Remember a few years ago when they replaced apple with peach, and I immediately said it was the dumbest decision in the history of beer? And then everyone hated it so much they reversed course? Weird. 3. The Masters' no-phone policy is one that I would like every major sporting event to adopt. It's beautiful. It's perfect. 4. I've never seen someone go when Haotong Li went yesterday on 13. Of course, I had to see it all on Twitter because CBS didn't show one shot. Not ONE. He had 10. OK, let's rapid-fire this big Monday class into an even bigger Monday night. First up? The "Did Rory have an unfair advantage" storyline that manifested itself this weekend was among the dumber things I've ever seen happen on social media:I can't believe I sat through that this morning. I'm so sorry I just made you guys do the same. Just horrible. So, this whole narrative started this weekend, and Rory gave it life yesterday after winning. Clearly, as you just saw, folks have no idea how Augusta works. You win, you're in for life. You can play it whenever, for the most part. That's not an unfair advantage. That's a perk. That's one of your rewards for being a Masters champion. Scottie Scheffler could've played Augusta along with Rory the past month. Jordan Spieth could've played. Sergio could've played, and then maybe he wouldn't have made an ass out of himself on Sunday. There were dozens of Masters champions in the field this weekend. Rory used his new membership to his advantage. This narrative is just beyond silly. Also, Stephen A. acting like blowing a six-shot lead … on SATURDAY … was an impressive feat is equally dumb to watch/listen to. What are we doing here? It's AUGUSTA. Rory ain't the first to blow a lead. He won't be the last. The other players in the field were pretty good, you know. Speaking of things that started to crumble under the pressure, let's check in with the Artemis II crew now that they're back on Earth!Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Nellie! No clue what happened here, but it certainly doesn't douse the flames on the whole "NASA faked the moon landing" thing. The conspiracy theorists are still convinced that we A) never walked on the moon, B) never went to the moon this time around, C) Christina Koch was fed her lines via earpiece. Of course, none of that is actually true, right? … Right?Allllllllllllllllllrighty then! Moving on!… To Sophie Cunningham, who just signed a new deal with the Indiana Fever to return as Caitlin Clark's bodyguard. Can't wait. Sophie, how'd you celebrate?!See you Wednesday. OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. (roughly, we’re not robots).Did Rory get an unfair advantage? Email me at [email protected].

Read moreSophie Cunningham Keeps Ripping Off Her Clothes For SI, Amanda Balionis Had A Big Masters & A Dumb Rory Debate

Some Of Rueben Bain's Draft Meetings With NFL Teams Hit A Roadblock When His Auto Accidents Came Up

The automobile crash Rueben Bain was involved in that eventually resulted in the death of one of his passengers in 2024 was the subject of teams asking the top NFL draft prospect about the issue in meetings as early as the NFL Combine, and some teams were not happy with how he handled those questions.One general manager who OutKick spoke to Monday afternoon said Bain outright declined to discuss the matter. Another NFL source who sat in on a Bain interview with his team said Bain seemed prepared for the topic but "provided nothing that made us feel he's sorry or learned from the accident."And that leads to a couple of points:Firstly, it reconfirms NFL teams knew about the multiple accidents Bain was involved in during his career at the University of Miami that went unreported until Sunday when multiple outlets, including OutKick, uncovered them. OutKick on Sunday reported at least three teams were aware of Bain's driving history and that number has grown to six by Monday. And the Detroit Lions are one of those."We've known that for a while, so that doesn't really change anything from our standpoint," Lions general manager Brad Holmes said at the team's pre-draft press conference.The next issue NFL teams will be addressing is to decide how they feel about Bain in context of his great football gifts compared to his accidents and how those shape him off the field.Has he learned a lesson?Has he matured?Is he of the mind that he can shake loose of difficult situations in the future because he has money?"Like it or not, we have to ask ourselves those questions," an NFL personnel evaluator told OutKick.Bain has had meetings with the Cowboys, Chiefs, Titans, and Bengals among others.Holmes and the Lions are currently at No. 17 in the first round. They are not expected to have a chance to pick Bain barring significant new revelations on the player before draft night on April 23 that would lower his draft stock.(That is always possible, as Laremy Tunsil learned in 2016 when a video of him smoking marijuana through a gas mask was released just prior to the draft.).But otherwise, teams beyond the top 10 in the draft probably are not expecting Bain to be on the board when they select.That makes the point that teams have had time to digest the facts around the deadly crash, a second crash about a year later, and eventually, how they feel Bain has grown (or not) from those.You should not, by the way, be surprised NFL teams would know Bain's driving history before the media did.All teams have security departments, and almost all staff those with former law enforcement officers from former FBI agents to others. Those are tasked with doing background checks and writing reports on all the players the team's scouting department identifies as possible draft picks.And while sometimes those investigations don't always identify every possible red flag in a prospect's history, the sense is the Bain accidents didn't surprise many, if any, NFL teams. 

Read moreSome Of Rueben Bain's Draft Meetings With NFL Teams Hit A Roadblock When His Auto Accidents Came Up

Overnight Masters Sensation Costs Himself Disgusting Amount Of Money During Sunday Disaster

Despite finishing in a tie for 38th place, Haotong Li managed to put together one of the most memorable weeks in modern Masters history. Rory McIlroy winning his second consecutive green jacket is the lead storyline out of the 2026 edition of the tournament, but Li's efforts should get a special place in the history books as well.Li, a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, qualified for the 2026 Masters by finishing T-4 in the 2025 Open Championship and was making what was his third start at Augusta National in his career. Things got off to a magical start for the 30-year-old, but then a toilet got involved, some wayward shots were hit, and the man from China cost himself a huge chunk of change during Sunday's final round.READ: Masters Parting Thoughts: Rory's Memory, A Bad Broadcast, And The Passage Of TimeFollowing rounds of 71-69 to put himself in a tie for seventh heading into the weekend, Li explained that he had spent Thursday night and Friday morning on the toilet due to what we can only assume was a battle with food poisoning. He even admitted he thought he'd pull out of the tournament on Friday, but he stuck it out and shot 3-under in the second round.He hit copy-paste on Saturday with another round of 3-under and found himself paired with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on Sunday, just four shots behind the leaders. Li played his opening 11 holes of the final round at even par, and seemed well on his way to a Top 12 finish to earn an automatic invite into the 2027 Masters as well as a sizable payday.But then he had to play the 12th and 13th holes, and that did not go well. He found the water with his teeshot on the Par 3 12th before walking off the green with a triple bogey. Although his name was still in the Top 20 on the leaderboard at that point, things were officially bad, but quickly got far, far worse.Li went for the Par 5 13th green in two, pulled his fairway wood left, and his golf ball appeared to hit a rock in the creek that runs along the hole, pushing his ball deep into the pine trees and azaleas. It looked as if he was transported from Augusta National to a random forest in East Georgia.Somehow, he was able to find his golf ball in the shrubbery. He attempted to hit it, failed, took a penalty, and eventually hit an approach shot long of the green before proceeding to putt his ball into the creek. Yes, putt. It was an adventure that ultimately ended with him taking a 10 on the hole.READ: No More Questions, Only Overwhelming Comfort In Rory McIlroy’s New Augusta EraLi managed to play his final five holes at even par before signing for a final round 80. He went from standing on the 12th tee at 7-under for the tournament to closing his week out at 1-over.If Li had managed to play the final seven holes of his final round at even par, he would have finished in a tie for 11th and earned more than $500,000. Instead, he finished just inside the Top 40, will have to find a way to qualify for next year's Masters, and took home just over $105,000.Li may have become a bit of a cult hero of the Masters with his efforts and memorable adventure around Amen Corner, but man, was it ever costly.

Read moreOvernight Masters Sensation Costs Himself Disgusting Amount Of Money During Sunday Disaster

Masters Parting Thoughts: Rory's Memory, A Bad Broadcast, And The Passage Of Time

And just like that, another Masters is gone. If you're like me, there is a moment every Masters Sunday, amidst all the inevitable and glorious chaos, when a brief feeling of dread takes over. The golf is phenomenal, the scenes are familiar, the leaderboard is tight, but you know you're running out of time.Running out of time to watch the best golfers in the world play the greatest golf course in the world, and running out of time in the game called life. In the grand scheme of things, golf is just a sport that doesn't matter, the Masters is just four days on a calendar, and Augusta National is an adult version of Disney World. At least, that's the cynical way of looking at it.When you look at the Masters on a slightly deeper, more meaningful level, it's still just a golf tournament, but it's also a clock, and one that never stops ticking.Author and ESPN writer Wright Thompson put it best during a recent appearance on ‘Golf Stuff' while describing what the Masters truly is: "The winners come and go, but the ability to mark the passage of time is the thing to me."Simple, but powerful. So much happens in life between each playing of the Masters. You lose people, you gain people, you struggle, you thrive, you have wins, and you have losses. Then, that first full week of April arrives. All feels right for four days despite the clock still ticking, and while the feeling of dread always comes late on Sunday, the feeling of appreciation defeats it every single time.Alright, now that you've unknowingly allowed me to get all emotional, we can get into the golf. Rory McIlroy won the Masters, again. He's now not only a legend of the game, but a Masters legend as well.READ: No More Questions, Only Overwhelming Comfort In Rory McIlroy’s New Augusta EraWe also have to talk about the CBS broadcast on Sunday, because for the first time in my lifetime, I think ‘bad’ is the proper word to describe it.You can find Mark Harris on X @itismarkharris, and you can also email him at [email protected] the handful of players who began Sunday's final round with a chance of winning a green jacket, Rory McIlroy had them all beat in the category of experience on the grounds of Augusta National. This year marked his 18th appearance in the Masters, and it goes without saying that winning the tournament a year ago was another tool in his toolbox. Having experience and using it are two separate things, however. It should come as no surprise that the career grand slam winner knew how and when to use it during the final round.During his round of 73 on Saturday, McIlroy played Amen Corner 3-over par. On Sunday, he played it five shots better, and it was jump-started with a birdie on the Par 3 12th hole, a stage he conquered by leaning on a tip he was given more than 15 years ago."It was in off the left. That was where the wind was," McIlroy explained. "I waited -- this is going back to one of my first-ever practice rounds here. I played a practice round with Tom Watson in 2009, and he said to me on the 12th tee he always waited until he felt where the wind should be and then just hit it. You know, just hit it as soon as you can."That's what I did on 12. It was all over the place. When I stood up on the tee, it felt like it was off the right, and I looked at the 11th flag, it was blowing right to left. But I was patient, and I waited to feel where the wind should have been coming from, and I knew it was just a perfect 3/4 9-iron."Perfect, indeed. McIlroy hit his tee shot to inside eight feet and rolled in the birdie putt. We can talk about his speed and distance off the tee, his list of career accomplishments, and abilities with a club in his hand, but McIlroy possesses the wherewithal to think back on a moment from a 2009 practice round may legitimately be a one-of-one characteristic. Complaining about the broadcast is the typical, cliché thing to do each week throughout the PGA Tour season. While I personally think the criticism is overblown when it comes to the broadcasts of regular PGA Tour events, the Masters and CBS typically put together the best broadcast of the year, and any complaints in the past are just doing too much.However, this year's broadcast was noticeably bad.The early coverage of the final few groups on Sunday was legitimate minutes (plural) behind the online leaderboard, and even the leaderboard on the broadcast jumped the gun occasionally before even showing the player finish the hole they were on. We missed multiple shots from Sam Burns on the second hole until CBS finally showed him airmailing the green; Scheffler's birdie attempt on the second hole wasn't shown live; and Justin Rose's bogey on the third hole was a mere mention. Those are just the immediate examples that come to mind.The broadcast did manage to settle in throughout the afternoon, but then came the abomination on the 72nd hole.Cameron Young hit his teeshot left off the tee while McIlroy blocked his tee ball about 100 yards right of the fairway, and it was as if CBS had never seen two players on opposite sides of the finishing hole.Viewers had no idea where McIlroy's second shot ended up. While the focus has largely been on that specific camera and broadcast blunder, the fact that we also had no clue where Young's approach shot finished was even more inexplicable. Young simply hit his second shot left of the green, yet viewers didn't know that until the broadcast showed him approaching his golf ball.For a solid 30 seconds, viewers didn't know where the golf balls of the two players in the final pairing of the Masters were as they were playing the final hole.On-course analyst Dottie Pepper was fantastic as usual, and Jim Nantz did make up for the broadcast's many blunders with an emotional moment after McIlroy closed things out, but wow, nobody could have seen that type of afternoon coming from the CBS crew.You can find Mark Harris on X @itismarkharris, and you can also email him at [email protected].

Read moreMasters Parting Thoughts: Rory's Memory, A Bad Broadcast, And The Passage Of Time

Golf Fans Fume As CBS Completely Botches Dramatic Masters Finish

Love him or hate him, Rory McIlroy is what golf needs right now. Every sport needs a villain (or hero, depending on where you stand), and Rory has beautifully filled those shoes. He's now a back-to-back Masters champion, and both times have come with a heaping helping of drama. Of course, Sunday's final hole was bungled so badly by CBS, I'm not sure anyone fully appreciated this one. For those who missed it, Rory needed a simple bogey on 18 to win his second straight Masters. Easy, right? Wrong! He sliced one off the tee worse than I do at my local muni, and found himself in the woods with a tight little window to the green. The drama was there, again. Last year, he folded – and then unfolded. What would happen this time around? Would we get a Scottie-Rory playoff at Augusta? It was certainly on the table, depending on how McIlroy's next shot went. It was perfectly set up for CBS. Another ‘Masters Moment.’ We were all on the edge of our couches, fresh off an incredible Sunday nap. And then … we missed it. We missed all of it, because CBS had NO idea where the ball went. Here's the clip of Rory's second shot, which starts around the 4:07 mark:Amazing, isn't it? I watched it live, obviously, but it's even worse seeing it again today. CBS and Augusta have been partners forever. Trust me, Jim Nantz told us a billion times this weekend. They've had a longstanding partnership that's been pretty terrific. But this is just inexcusable. That was, easily, the biggest shot of the tournament, and they completely botched it. NOBODY knew where Rory's ball was. The camera operators had no clue, Jim Nantz had no clue, although he ventured a guess that it was somewhere "around" the green. Dottie Pepper said the "8 iron" was on the way. Trevor Immelman noted that it sounded "solid." Things really spiraled after, because not only did the broadcast have no clue where Rory's shot landed … they were equally confused by Cam Young's approach! Hell, they didn't even show Young's shot tracer. The camera just stayed on him the whole time. Jim said, "He hated it," and then we went back to the aerial shot of the 18th green with no mention of where either shot actually landed. It was a full 90 seconds until we FINALLY saw one single golf ball in the bunker. Again, just stunning. But wait – as they say – there's MORE:That's Rory's winning putt, by the way. Yes, it went in. You would have no earthly idea by the angle, but I promise, it went in. CBS could have picked so many ways to show the final putt, and they chose Rory McIlroy's ass. Just stunning. Look, shooting golf ain't easy. I get that, completely. You're trying to track a tiny white ball in the air, going against a giant white sky, traveling hundreds of yards. But, again, this was not CBS's first rodeo. As Jim Nantz noted, this was their 70th year together – the longest-running relationship in sports. You sort of run out of excuses when you hit the 7-decade mark. CBS whiffed Sunday when all eyes were on them. Let's hope that doesn't become a tradition unlike any other.

Read moreGolf Fans Fume As CBS Completely Botches Dramatic Masters Finish

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Caught Red-Handed Doing The Unthinkable, Embarrassing NASCAR Crowd & Race Wives Do Pilates

Always a tough ask when you put NASCAR up against The Masters, but at least they tried, right? I mean, it's Bristol, baby! If any track is gonna give Augusta a run for its money, it's Bristol, right?Right?!Yikes. Not a great race. Not a great crowd, as you'll see. This Next Gen car has just completely ruined short tracks, hasn't it? I know I've said it a dozen times now, but every time we go back — especially to a place as sacred as Bristol — we're reminded that the track just doesn't have its fastball anymore. But look … Ty Gibbs won! That's something, right? At least it wasn't the usual suspects. Joe's grandson — under a ton of heat his first few seasons — finally broke through, so that's a cool deal. Other than that? Eh. Just not a ton going on. That's never stopped us before, though!We'll get to Ty. We'll also get to Kyle Busch showing the youngins what payback looks like at Bristol. I've also got cars BURSTING into flames, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulling a pretty controversial act with a beer, the most insane crash you'll ever see, and the NASCAR WAGs doing palates before racing 500 miles. See? You ain't getting content like that out of the AP this morning. I promise! And thank God for that, too. Four tires, enough fuel to get us to the Strait of Hormuz and back (whatever that means) and a Budweiser for Dale Jr., of course … Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the ‘This Place Used To Be PACKED’ edition — is LIVE!Congrats to Ty Gibbs. Seriously. I could joke about the nepotism stuff, and perhaps there's some merit to that, but I won't. Frankly, I don't have it in me today. I had a tough weekend. Watching four straight days of golf isn't for the weak, you know. Anyway, Gibbs is only 23, but the clock was ticking — louder and louder — for him to win a Cup race. He's been a full-time Cup driver for 3+ seasons now. Think about that. This is Ty's FOURTH season, and he still hadn't won a race. And he's in a Gibbs car! Duh. It's in his name. But, he's still in one, and couldn't finish the job? Not great. For those who forgot, Gibbs won a Busch (O'Reilly) Series title back in 2022. That night, his dad, Coy, died in his sleep. I mean, goodness gracious. I still remember seeing that news, mere hours before the Cup finale at Phoenix, and being stunned. Coy was Joe Gibbs' son, and also a co-owner and executive at JGR. See? Cool moment. Cool win. Ty Gibbs ain't the most popular driver in the world, but I imagine this will help. Again, at least it's someone new. I don't think I could take another Tyler Reddick win. Now, would it have mattered? I don't know. I've seen some pictures of Bristol circulating the internet this morning, and I gotta be honest … I'm rattled:Yikes. It wasn't great. It didn't look great. I'm also not quite sure why the race was on FS1, but, clearly, I'm not in a position to ask those questions. Anyway, should Bristol lose a race? I don't know. Probably not. It is Bristol, after all. The spring race has never looked like the fall race. And, frankly, the fall race has never looked like the August race. If I were in charge, I'd drop the spring race and move the other one back to August. I'd also bring back Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace, but I'm also an out-of-the-box thinker, so I realize the stiffs who run NASCAR may not be ready for that just yet. And for those of you saying I'm cherry-picking photos of Bristol to make it look empty, here's Kyle Busch getting dumped by Riley Herbst – with half-empty seats in the background!Just another miserable day at the office for Kyle Busch, who now hasn't won a Cup race since the early days of the Autopen administration. Sad. I do love that clip of Herbst where his spotter basically tells him to wreck Kyle, and Riley, without literally skipping a beat, does it. Just flat out dumps him. What balls. But then again, Kyle gets to go home to Sam Busch, so I assume he's just fine getting to leave the track a few minutes early:YES! Welcome back to Cabo, Sam Busch! Looks like you had a great week of R&R. One of the very few off weeks for NASCAR drivers during the season, and you guys nailed it. I understand being miserable during a … 1,044 day windless streak … but still, Kyle, it could be worse!Yes, you read that right. One thousand, forty-four. Goodness gracious. OK, let's hit the gas and get to some quickies on the way out. Speaking of NASCAR WAGs … what a heater we're on right now in that arena:I mean, what an off-week! Hooters Gianna is BACK. It's been a long road back, but our girl seems ready to rock and roll. Can't wait. And how about the WAGs getting together for a little pre-race Pilates at Bristol? You ain't getting that sort of #content in the NFL or MLB. Only in NASCAR. They were on FIRE this week. Speaking of … let's quickly check in on how things went down in the Busch Series Saturday night:Amazing. Reminds me of a few years back when Dale Jr., running his yearly race at Bristol, also caught fire. Something about Bristol and burning down, I reckon. Speaking of Junior … he was BACK behind the wheel this past weekend at Nashville, and sent the internet into a tailspin after the race:Honestly, it's a fair point. Sure, Dale is known as the Budweiser guy, not only in NASCAR, but around the world. He's synonymous with Budweiser, even though he quit driving the No. 8 Bud Chevy back in 2007. Wild. But, everyone just assumes he still pounds Bud Heavys. He's 51, folks. Bud Heavys ain't the easiest beer to just throw back. Lord knows I'd hate it. I'd take Busch Light and Mic Ultra over Bud Heavy any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. And please, don't you dare come at me with the always exhausting, "If you were really a man, you'd be drinking an IPA!"No, I wouldn't. I promise, I wouldn't. OK, that's it for today. Good week. Here's an absolutely insane motorcycle crash from Nashville qualifying over the weekend, which was captured in just the funniest way possible. See ya at Kansas. 

Read moreDale Earnhardt Jr. Caught Red-Handed Doing The Unthinkable, Embarrassing NASCAR Crowd & Race Wives Do Pilates

No More Questions, Only Overwhelming Comfort In Rory McIlroy’s New Augusta Era

What are we all going to talk about next year? That was the question Rory McIlroy asked inside the media center at Augusta National a year ago after finally sliding on the green jacket. The question was purely sarcastic, but not exactly a joke. For 10 straight Aprils, the golf world as a whole, including McIlroy himself, had obsessed over whether the Northern Irishman would ever win The Masters to complete the career grand slam. It turned out that the 11th time was the charm as he cemented himself as a legend of the game, becoming just the sixth player of the modern era to complete the feat.Before McIlroy could even leave the property that Sunday night a year ago and drive down Magnolia Lane as a Masters champion for the first time, a new and fair question had already been posed: With seemingly nothing else left to accomplish in the game, what version of McIlroy would we get moving forward?It may feel like a ridiculous question to pose about a player in his mid 30s who may potentially only now be reaching the peak of his powers. But we're also discussing a player who developed serious scar tissue trying to accomplish one singular thing every spring for a decade, and he finally managed to cross that finish line.The most difficult piece of the new question McIlroy faced was that it could only truly be answered 365 days later at this year's Masters. Another long wait for an answer to a new, exhausting question that could only be answered by his play across 72 holes, and what position the name McIlroy fell on the leaderboard of the grandest tournament in the sport, yet again.With his name ultimately finishing at the top, and in the manner in which he put it there, no more questions need to be asked. We shouldn't be allowed to ask them. No more questions when it comes to McIlroy and The Masters, not unless they're about how many more times he could win at Augusta National. That's a perk of becoming just the fourth player ever to defend their Masters title successfully.It's mesmerizing to write that about a player who had ghosts lurking around every corner of the sprawling property for more than 10 years. Now, that player has won consecutive Masters and even looked as comfortable as one can be at Augusta National while winning his second.He's always had the game to win The Masters. He had the game to do it when he was just 21-years-old in 2011 and gave up a four-shot lead heading into the final round. He finished inside the Top 10 seven times between 2014 and 2022 before checking the box in 2025.This 2026 Masters version of Rory was something new, however, and not just because he threw on a green jacket and was allowed in every room inside the clubhouse during this tournament week. No, this Rory was comfortable, even when the going got tough.McIlroy woke up Saturday with a six-shot lead – the largest 36-hole lead in the history of The Masters – and looked like a giant strolling the fairways of Augusta with his patented strut. Eleven holes into his third round, and that six-shot advantage was gone after a water ball and double bogey on the Par 4 11th. An ugly bogey on the following hole, and the familiar ghosts started to peek their heads around the trees, focused on one man and one man only.It's so easy to look at McIlroy's third round, see him play Amen Corner 3-over par, and see his score of 73 as a complete disaster. Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Young each shooting a pair of 65s on the same day made the 73 look that much worse, but McIlroy righting the ship and playing his final five holes Saturday 1-under was a tiny, yet much-needed victory that kept him afloat before ultimately winning the golf tournament by a single shot over Scheffler on Sunday.While comfortable would be the last word you would use to describe McIlroy on Saturday, it would be among the first you would use to describe him across the final stretch on Sunday. This isn't the type of comfort you get by simply playing in your 18th Masters, as McIlroy was this week, but a comfort one only achieves by winning at this place.That 3-over run around Amen Corner on Saturday was almost completely erased Sunday as he made the loop in 2-under. The pair of birdies he picked up on the 12th and 13th holes began to shut the door on the group of chasers, but it was the comfort on the 16th and 17th holes that could be felt by anyone with eyes on what was taking place.McIlroy airmailed the green on the Par 3 16th, putting him in a unique spot that could easily make even a past champion look foolish. He responded by cozying up a putt from off the green to within just a couple of inches to tap in for a par.On 17, McIlroy missed the green with his approach shot from the fairway, just 153 yards from the pin. A second consecutive swing with a short-iron in hand that put him in a peculiar spot while trying to hold onto the lead. He responded by hitting a chip shot to 2 feet, leaving him with another tap-in par.Then came the nervy tee shot on the closing hole, one that could have turned into disaster with McIlroy missing with his tee ball way right, but the experience of conquering that stage kicked in after getting a lucky break and closing things out.Comfort in abundance.Nothing was stress-free for McIlroy on Sunday or at any point throughout the week. That stress doesn't go away because you've accomplished the grandest feat in the modern game and have a green jacket with the Masters logo on it. The stress evolves, it changes, but it never goes away, not in this game.The questions are done being asked of Rory and the Masters. We'll just play witness to what he delivers in the coming years to what feels like a new home, and a rather comfortable one at that.

Read moreNo More Questions, Only Overwhelming Comfort In Rory McIlroy’s New Augusta Era