It was the end of a year-long dream as Rory McIlroy hosted his Champions Dinner ahead of The Masters 2026.
The Northern Irishman has been on cloud nine ever since his boyhood dreams came true when he beat Justin Rose in a play-off last year to finally win The Masters.
The career Grand Slam was completed and the Green Jacket has hardly left his back since, wearing it whenever possible, as well he should given what he went through to win it.
And the culmination of that year-long tour of glory is hosting the famed Champions Dinner for all the past winners - a Tuesday tradition he'd jealously watched from the outside for years.
McIlroy's Masters Tuesday's will be very different from now on.
McIlroy finally gets to join Masters tradition
"I think it's one of the best traditions in sport," McIlroy said ahead of Tuesday's Champions Dinner. "And I'm very grateful to be a part of it. I'm obviously going to get my first experience of it tonight and looking forward to many, many more years."
So on Tuesday evening at the iconic Augusta National clubhouse, McIlroy could finally join those golfing legends in Green Jackets sipping cocktails on the balcony - in stark contrast to 12 months ago.
"I tell this pretty funny story about last year myself and Justin Rose actually went for dinner at the club last year on the Tuesday night with a few of the Augusta National members," McIlroy recalled.
"It was weird, I was pulling up Magnolia Lane, and you get to the circle, and I'm like, well, do I go and park way over at the parking lot? Because I'm not going to park in the champions parking lot.
"Then at that specific moment, the champions were having their cocktails out on the balcony. I'm like I don't want to valet, get out, they're going to see me and it's going to be weird. So I had this really awkward moment with it all last year. Yeah, thankfully that was the last time that I needed to do that."
What was on McIlroy's Masters menu?
When McIlroy finally got to sit at the head of the table alongside Ben Crenshaw and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, he served up an ecclectic and high-end fine dining experience.
A traditional Irish Champ served alongside the wagyu filet mignon or seared salmon main course was the only nod to his homeland's cuisine.
“People keep asking me, ‘Why didn’t you go more Irish?’ And I said, ‘Because I want to enjoy the dinner as well’,” McIlroy joked about his menu choices.
He had four options of appetizers including a peach and ricotta flatbread with balsamic, hot honey and basil, rock shrimp tempura, bacon-wrapped dates with goat's cheese and almonds and grilled elk sliders with a caramelized onion jam and roasted garlic aioli.
There was also a yellowfin tuna carpaccio as starter, which McIlroy explained comes from one of his favorite restaurants in New York called Le Bernardin, and a dessert of sticky toffee pudding.
McIlroy had also beamed when recounting how he'd been allowed into the famed Augusta wine cellar to pick out some of the best drops available to accompany the meal.
It's more than just food though, it's the conversations with the game's greats, the trading of stories and just knowing he'll now be part of the history of the tournament.
And then there's the speech, which McIlroy admitted "I've probably thought about that more than the food" and would probably need a cocktail or two to settle the nerves beforehand.
"I'll follow Ben Crenshaw's lead," he added. "I know he'll direct the run of show a little bit. But yeah, I have a few remarks that I want to make.
"So many legends of the game there. But talking in front of that group, I want to say the right things and make sure I get my feelings across of how grateful I am to be a part of that group."
And that's what comes across most about McIlroy now finally being a Masters champion, he's not on the outside looking in anymore, not sitting in his car looking up at the Green Jackets sipping cocktails.
He's the newest member of the best club in golf, and he's enjoying every minute of it.
