Gabrielle Herzig

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Gabrielle Herzig

So, yeah. That happened. I played Augusta National the day after Rory McIlroy won the Masters and became the sixth man in golf to complete the career Grand Slam. I cannot believe that is a factual statement that I'm typing right now. As I'm sitting down to write this, back in my lower Manhattan shoebox, the emotions of the experience are starting to really hit me for the first time. Since I found out about this on Friday afternoon, I've been operating purely on adrenaline.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Gabrielle Herzig

You may or may not know that on the Monday after the Masters, Augusta National Golf Club allows a group of media members to play the course. Every credentialed member of the press is eligible through a lottery system, and being picked is, for many, the highlight of their week. The Athletic 's Gabby Herzig, covering her second Masters, was lucky enough to be chosen and played Augusta National the day after Rory McIlroy won the career Grand Slam.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Gabrielle Herzig

AUGUSTA, Ga. - A concoction of sweaty bodies and long-lens cameras was deadlocked in the upper left-hand corner of the No. 15 grandstand at Augusta National as Rory McIlroy's seven-foot eagle putt slid underneath the cup. At that point in the day, the phoneless Masters patrons were not unfamiliar to the sound of thousands of simultaneous groans. Hearing and participating in them repeatedly, however, was not getting any easier. A Green Jacket stood up out of his plastic bleacher seat in a frenzy.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Gabrielle Herzig

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Rory McIlroy leads the Masters by two shots over Bryson DeChambeau, but that is not who he will be playing in the tournament's final round. Sunday at Augusta National will be McIlroy versus McIlroy. "I'm just going to have to settle in and really try to keep myself in my own little bubble and keep my head down," he said after shooting a third-round 66 to enter Sunday at 12-under-par.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Gabrielle Herzig

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Masters will never be cheugy. It may be a crime of fashion to be overdone, outdated or, gasp, dressed in millenial-core for 51 weeks a year. But for this week, at Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters, the patrons come dressed for the scene they find when they step on property, and there's something about the place that makes it all work. The open space between the clubhouse, the first tee and the practice green at Augusta National is like the Shibuya Crossing of golf.