Rory McIlroy has told Amanda Balionis that he feels like he finally belongs at Augusta National after winning his second successive Masters title on Sunday.
The 36-year-old joined golfing greats Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in successfully retaining his green jacket after a wild final day.
He saw a six-shot second-round lead crumble away on Saturday, before successive birdies on his final run through Amen Corner put him back in control at Augusta to see off the likes of Justin Rose, Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Young.
Two years after unsubstantiated rumours of an affair between golf reporter Balionis and grand slam winner McIlroy, she interviewed him several times during this year’s tournament.
Speaking after he had won the tournament on Sunday, McIlroy revealed his ‘joy’ to her and why he thinks he can get even better.
Balionis asked him: ‘If you could describe the feeling after this win. I think after last year it was one of relief. What was it this year?’
McIlroy replied: ‘Joy and belonging. I think, I feel like if you play this tournament and you haven’t won a green jacket there’s a sense that you still don’t belong in some way and I just felt this sense this year of belonging.
‘And then when you win, it’s just like this joy and a little bit of irony that it took me so long to get one and then all of a sudden, two come along so quickly.’
Balionis continued: ‘You also know that you’re now joining really rarefied air, not just with the career grand slam but now you’re one of just four players to successfully defend your title.
‘You already know who those players are. How do you describe that? Is that also belonging now when you think of Tiger (Woods), Jack (Nicklaus), Sir Nick (Faldo), is it belonging?’
McIlroy answered: ‘It’s hard. I don’t know. I keep saying that’s up for other people to decide but yeah I’m starting to do things that very few others have done and it’s a really cool place to be.
‘I’m incredibly grateful I get to do it and I don’t feel like I’m done yet and hopefully there’s still a lot left in the tank.’
It was, of course, another interview with Balionis in 2024 that fuelled speculation about relations between the golfer and the attractive interviewer, known for her flirtatious on-air style and skill at drawing out often taciturn sportsmen.
When McIlroy failed to mention his wife Erica Stoll – the mother of their daughter, Poppy – during the chat at the Wells Fargo tournament which coincided with US Mother’s Day, onlookers were bemused.
A day later, when he filed for divorce from his wife of seven years, declaring the union ‘irretrievably broken,’ bemusement turned to shock.
Looking for a reason for the unprompted announcement, observers noted the apparent closeness between Balionis and McIlroy during their interview.
Days later the Daily Mail broke the news of an alleged affair between the pair after McIlroy was seen picking up a takeaway in Balionis’s name in San Diego, California, where the presenter has a home.
Neither Balionis nor McIlroy has ever addressed their rumoured romance, which was never confirmed.
However, McIlroy and Stoll reconciled not long after and appear to be every bit the happy couple.
That was underlined on Sunday afternoon when McIlroy thanked her for her support after he wrote another chapter of golf history.
‘This is the hard part,’ McIlroy said as he addressed his family.
‘First and foremost, my wife and daughter, Erica and Poppy. They have to put up with me at home and, trust me, sometimes that’s a tough thing to do.
‘But they have been my biggest supporters. This has definitely turned into Poppy’s favorite week of the year.
‘I don’t know if it’s because of the Par 3 Tournament or it’s the all-you-can eat ice cream in the players’ services building.’
