Rory McIlroy will use one of his mother’s favourite dishes among appetisers, that also include elk, when he hosts the traditional champion’s dinner before his defence of the Masters next month.
The most recent winner at Augusta selects the menu for other past champions at an occasion which takes place in the clubhouse on the Tuesday evening of Masters week.
McIlroy’s choices include some of his favourite dishes, as well as a reminder from his dramatic 2025 victory, which ended an 11-year wait to complete the career Grand Slam of major titles.
“I think it would be pretty presumptuous to have a menu in your head before you actually win the tournament,” said the Northern Irishman.
“But I always thought about, if I win the Masters one day, what would I want it to look like? What would I like to serve?
“I felt this time around, I wanted to do something that I would enjoy, but I wanted to do something that all other champions would enjoy, as well.”
Before McIlroy and former champions such as Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson sit down, they will have a choice of four appetisers.
“My Mum does these really, really nice dates stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in bacon, so I put those on the appetisers list. So thanks to Rosie for that one.
“In the build-up to the Masters last year, I got this big shipment of elk and I was eating a lot of that, and I didn’t want elk to be the main course because I didn’t know if everyone would like that.
“I incorporated that into the appetisers so I’m doing grilled elk sliders, which I think is fun.”
There will also be shrimp tempura and Georgia peach and ricotta flatbread with hot honey.
The starter is a nod to McIlroy’s favourite New York restaurant, Le Bernardin, where the 36-year-old always orders yellowfin tuna carpaccio.
“That’s a fun one that the club worked with me on,” he added.
“They went up to the restaurant and worked with the chefs, and made sure. They obviously wanted to get it right for the night.”
