During a Masters interview with Amazon’s Amanada Balionis, Rory McIlroy did not hold back when revealing golf legend Jack Nicklaus’ advice ahead of the 2026 tournament. Despite winning his first green jacket, McIlroy revealed that Nicklaus believes he has plenty of room for improvement at Augusta National.
Specifically, McIlroy has been given a warning about his double bogeys. McIlroy had to clean up Nicklaus’ colorful language during the broadcast.
“No effing double bogeys,” McIlroy said in a cleaned-up version of Nicklaus’ advice during the April 10, 2026, interview. “Apparently he thought I made too many last year.”
Here’s what you need to know about McIlroy’s quest to win back-to-back Masters.
Rory McIlroy’s Wife, Erica Stoll, Is Cheering on the PGA Tour Golfer at Masters
Just as it was during the 2025 Masters, McIlroy is joined in Augusta by his wife, Erica Stoll, and daughter, Poppy. The family made an appearance at the Masters Par 3 Tournament on the eve of the first round.
Heading into the Masters, McIlroy joked that the couple’s daughter is a “mini Erica.”
“I think Poppy, like she’s a mini Erica,” McIlroy explained to reporters on April 7. “It’s like living with two of them, which is great a lot of the time. She is the most unbelievably polite and respectful and well-behaved little girl, and I really love that she started to get into the game a lot more, and it all stemmed from the putt last year at the Par 3.
“So she made sure that I brought her putter up this year so she could hit the putt with her putter and not mine. Yeah, that’s been amazing to — and as well, just to see her grow up to have her travel the world to see different places, to give her a life that I could only dream about when I was that age, that’s been the coolest thing.”
Amanda Balionis Expressed Concerns About Rory McIlroy Ahead of the Masters
Prior to the Masters, McIlroy had been dealing with a back injury, calling into question just how effecting the defending champion would be in his return to Augusta. McIlroy has answered these questions in a major way, but Balionis was not alone in expressing skepticism about the star’s chances at the Masters.
“I think, listen, he said it at The Players, right? He felt rusty,” Balionis noted in a March 31, interview on the “Fairway Rollin’” podcast. “He didn’t look quite himself and he’s not going through the same schedule that he went through last year that led to success.
“And we all know golfers are a little superstitious. So if I’m Rory, I’m thinking like, oof, I would have loved to replicate exactly what I had done last year to try to replicate the same result as last year. That’s obviously not in the cards for him right now as he tries to get that back to 100%, tries to knock that rust off.”
McIlroy’s back injury appears to be a thing of the past. The star golfer is poised to be in contention to make rare history in repeating as Masters champion.
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