The Masters reigning champion Rory McIlroy spent the first two rounds of the 2026 tournament paired with 18-year-old Mason Howell — and left the young golfer with some sound advice.
“Hopefully he saw that you don’t have to be perfect to shoot good scores,” McIlroy said to reporters after the second round of The Masters on Friday April 10. “I think when I was 18 and I started to play tour events, I thought that pros just didn’t make mistakes, and he saw plenty of mistakes out of me over the first two days.”
He continued, “Again, I fell back on my short game and my wedge play. So hopefully he saw someone that wasn’t perfect but was very efficient with how he scored, and I think to be successful at the professional level, that’s a big part of it.”
Howell, 18, earned a spot at the tournament after winning the U.S. Amateur last year. He finished nine over par in the first two days at Augusta National and missed the cut by five shots.
He played with McIlroy and world No. 3 Cameron Young, in line with the course tradition of pairing amateur champions with Masters champions.
“Rory was awesome,” Howell said on Friday. “He said, ‘I hope to see you down the line. We’ll play some practice rounds coming up.’ So I couldn’t have been more thankful to be paired with Rory this week, and how much I learned from his game.”
He continued, “I couldn’t have asked for a better two days. Obviously, I wish I played a little bit better, but playing alongside Rory and Cam and seeing the show that they put on, that’s something I’ll remember forever and something I can go home and learn from and just push myself to work even harder.”
McIlroy completed a historic 36-hole run in the first two days of the tournament, heading into the third round with a six-shot lead. Howell said watching one of the best at work was a “great experience.”
“You got to stay in your own lane, but it’s hard not to watch that,” Howell said. “That chip-in on 17 was unreal. That was one of the coolest things I’ve seen in sports, and I got to witness it in person, so that was awesome.”
He continued, “I mean, I felt like I hit it OK today. Just couldn’t get anything to go. Kind of the story of the last two days. But it was a great experience.”
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