Rory McIlroy's good luck charm that ‘inspired Masters win' is revealed: ‘I wore it down Magnolia Lane every day'
When he holed his final putt, the 36-year-old sank to his knees in celebration before finally getting the moment he had been waiting for, having 2024 champion Scottie Scheffler place the Green Jacket on his shoulders.
But Fox believes it wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for another green item in McIlroy's possession, gifted to him by New Zealand prime minister John Key on a golf trip to Fox's homeland last December.
'When we played last year at Tara Iti, he was gifted a pounamu by John Key,' revealed Fox in an interview promoting the Australian PGA Championship in November, which he will play in.
'Rors kind of said to me the first time I saw him after Augusta, and I'd just won Myrtle Beach (Classic) as well, 'John had gifted me that and I felt like it was good luck. I wore it down Magnolia Lane every day.'
"John actually texted me a photo of him in a golf cart with Rory wearing his pounamu, which was really cool.'
Derived from the Māori word for jade or greenstone, a pounamu is a precious stone native to the south island of New Zealand and, according to Tourism New Zealand, it is 'typically carved with traditional Māori symbols and can represent ancestors, connection with nature, or attributes such as strength, prosperity, love, and harmony.'
In a sporting context, traditionally they are awarded to New Zealand athletes, with each Olympic and Paralympic athlete given one prior to each Games they compete in. Fox, for instance, owns three having participated in the 2016, 2021 and 2024 Games.
'(Key) explains what it means a lot better than what I can, but it's a mark of prestige. We call it 'mana' (spiritual power and charisma),' continued Fox, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season.
'We were gifted something similar in our induction into the team when we arrived into the (Olympic) Village. It was a pretty cool thing for John to do and obviously it meant a lot to Rory. It was a nice little story that he had a little bit of Kiwi on him when he was at Augusta.'
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Fox, who won the 2016 NI Open at Galgorm, has been good friends with McIlroy for several years and was a big driving factor in getting the Northern Irishman signed up to play in the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in early December.
'Rory seems to love our part of the world… he had a great time at Tara Iti last year, and I know he's keen to go back at some point if he can during his busy schedule. But it's great to have a little piece of New Zealand (the pounamu) that he loved,' Fox added.
'I've already talked to him about coming down to play the Aussie Open and he can't be more excited about playing Royal Melbourne in a tournament, so that's pretty cool.'
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