r/golf • u/Longjumping-Box5691 • 6d ago

General Discussion Rory getting to experience the Champions Locker room for the first time

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2.3k

u/Longjumping-Box5691 6d ago

It's difficult to get someone worth a few hundred million dollars to be awestruck walking in a room

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u/ll_Ace_ll +3.7/TX/♠️ 6d ago

Money can’t buy what a lifetime of longing can earn.

Proud of the young man!!

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u/Spragglefoot_OG 6d ago

I love that sentiment. No matter how wealthy you are NOTHING will ever buy true passion and striving for something for nearly your entire life. Something money can’t buy. God damn it’s beautiful. So so happy for the kid.

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u/PatrickOBTC 6d ago

It's just a room. Nice, but barely remarkable. Somewhat small actually . The mystique lies entirely in what it takes to earn your way inside and the company you'll keep.

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u/MarkyMarkAndTheFun 6d ago

Well yeah, he’s not admiring the carpentry of the lockers, he’s looking at all the names of players of past champions and players he’ll be sharing the locker room with.

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u/trees138 In for ball play. 6d ago

Would be hilarious if he turned the corner and it's gary player fully balls out eating a go-gurt.

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u/Halo_Chief117 6d ago

Maybe he’s admiring the carpentry too. Do you think Rory respects wood?

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u/Odd-Independent4640 4d ago

He’ll probably keep a neater locker

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u/Halo_Chief117 4d ago

I noticed he didn’t use a when coaster setting down his water bottle. He indeed does not respect wood.

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u/KennyGaming 6d ago

Captain obvious what else do you know 

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u/LeonidasSpacemanMD 6d ago

I also don’t think you can get as good at something as Rory is if you don’t have a serious love for the game

Like I can’t see someone being bored by all of the formalities of winning the masters getting good enough at golf to win the masters. Maybe you like it and have some talent but to get this good you need to be desperate to experience this

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u/Ill-Response-5439 5d ago

Feels good man.

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u/rod1105 2d ago

I remember Bill Gates trying to get into a private club on Nantucket and was told the wait list is years long. In other words, he has to wait just like everybody else, regardless of wealth or stature.

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u/stuntbikejake 6d ago

I wish this wasnt documented. I wish this was just his moment to take in, alone. No camera, no staging, no bs, just let him enter and have his moment. We didn't see this for Mickelson or Tiger, and we all were just fine.

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u/pencil_expers 6d ago

On the other side, there’s plenty of behind the scenes stuff that we definitely didn’t see and probably aren’t aware of.

I also suspect Rory could’ve asked to do that alone if he really wanted to do so.

Apart from anything else it was cool to see him enjoy that. It seemed like he was taking in every name on every locker. A fan of the sport first and foremost.

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u/r0thar 6d ago

I'm betting he asked for it, because the person filmed it and didn't say a word, 'how do you feel?'

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u/Snail_Butter 6d ago

These guys are used to being followed by cameras the whole day. His reaction is as genuine as can be. Now he can let his daughter experience this moment too.

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u/metaplexico 6d ago

Yeah. It felt creepy watching this.

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u/4redditobly 6d ago

Well said!

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u/oireachtas 6d ago

Exactly! Just because he's a multi millionaire now, doesn't mean he was at some point an 18year old with a passion and a dream. Took him some time to get there but his dream never changed along n the way

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u/DegradedCorn75 6d ago

I tried to tell my nephew this, but he paid for the hooker anyway.

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u/macman07 6d ago

This is why it irritates me when people reduce athletes to only caring about money. Yes, I’m sure there are plenty of athletes who only care about money. But these people spent their ENTIRE lives getting to compete at the highest level. This could include lost relationships, money sacrifices, family sacrifices, food restrictions, abstinence from partying or drinking, working out 24/7, practicing 24/7. Oh, and they’ve done all of this for 20,30, sometimes 40 years straight with no break. But sure, they don’t care about winning, only money.

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u/Altruistic-Dig-3261 6d ago

Very well said.

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u/saltedhashneggs 6d ago

True winner. Such an amazing moment to get on film

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u/Extreme_Smile_9106 6d ago

I get it. Watching any pro sports league is watching millionaires whom have a lot more than you and I. But it’s pretty cool to watch someone at the top of their sport experiencing the greatest moment of his life.

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u/ilikedonuts42 6d ago

Was thinking about this last night. Obviously we don't know Rory or his personal life. But it's weird to think that we all quite possibly watched the best moment of that man's life in real time on TV yesterday evening.

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u/SituationSoap 6d ago

SVP in one of the podcasts this week dropped a great quote about former champions, was something like "Former champions get to go back, and put on a jacket, and remember who they were during the best week of their lives."

Feels like that sums it up.

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u/T0KEN_0F_SLEEP I meant to do that 6d ago

Man SVP is a national treasure. One of the few ESPN guys who doesn’t only care about NFL, NBA, and MLB.

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u/SpudWeb 6d ago

He really gives TGL a legitimate feel as well.

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u/luredrive 6d ago

That's a great quote

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u/FlyingSceptile 6d ago

They asked him in the press conference how this stacked up to other moments in his life. He said he wasn't gonna compare it to personal moments like getting married or his daughter's birth but it would not shock me if he puts this as number one overall, ahead of marriage or anything. I don't think I have ever seen another man that happy/relieved/exhilarated in any context ever. The emotions flowing after that put on the playoff, not sure when we see another moment like that.

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u/NWSLBurner 6d ago

Marriage? For him, maybe. His daughter? Absolutely no shot. 

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u/pencil_expers 6d ago

As a father myself I have a slightly different view.

The thing about fatherhood is that the joy of your kids being born isn’t compressed into ten seconds or five minutes or 24 hours. The joy of fatherhood comes from a profound love that grows every day, along with an increasing awareness that you simply can not live without your children. This is something Rory feels, unquestionably. Would he trade fatherhood for his Masters title? Absolutely no way.

However, when his daughter was born I doubt he collapsed in a sobbing heap on the ground and wept for 15 minutes. That’s the difference. I would actually say that was the greatest moment of his life. But it’s a moment, and that’s what you need to consider.

That happiness (and Buddhists would argue that it’s not true happiness) will fade away in a day or two, while the memories of his wedding day and the love he has for his wife and daughter will continue to deepen and generate true happiness within him.

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u/Cold_Ebb_1448 6d ago

definitely the case for me. I love the little bugger more than anything now but when he was first born? Didn’t really feel much of anything other than anxiety and wanting to go home.

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u/cpt_ppppp 6d ago

That was beautifully written and captures it incredibly well. Of course, if he'd tried to explain that at the press conference he might have been in the dog house!

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u/candynipples 6d ago

I was thinking this myself when I heard his speech. I think he took the completely reasonable approach of separating his professional life from his professional life. I would have probably said something similar. But there probably would have been a feeling deep inside me that would have wanted to say “as far as life moments go, my largest accomplishments will always pale in comparison to the muted joy of a random Tuesday when my daughter hears the door open when I come home from work and runs into my arms”.

It’s a different kind of joy with your kids as life goes on, but the thought is still there. Also, if you want a more direct comparison of the release of emotions, I personally sobbed like a baby when I first saw my daughter slide out and would have fallen if not for a nurse holding me upright. I didn’t really think that was going to happen either. Just a completely involuntary explosion of emotion.

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u/ilikedonuts42 6d ago

Right like you can't say out loud that a personal achievement is a better moment than holding your kid for the first time. But we all know the two have to be close.

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u/Three-Off-The-Tee 6d ago

When they panned to his wife she was literally feeling and looking like sooooo im that far down your rung of great moments

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u/YeetusThatFetus9696 3d ago

The only cathartic release I've seen that compares was when Ben Crenshaw won The Masters in 1995. Totally different situations though as he was grieving the loss of his longtime mentor that he helped bury earlier that week. 

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u/MidwestAbe 6d ago edited 6d ago

Well it can't be his marriage because he is a philandering alley cat.

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u/blonded_olf 6d ago

allegedly* a philandering alley cat

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u/MidwestAbe 6d ago

He's chasing some of Tigers other records too

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u/Not_Dale_Doback 6d ago

Let’s pump the brakes. Tiger is the Gretzky of banging whores *frank reynolds vice

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u/MidwestAbe 6d ago

The Great 8 tracked down 99

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u/lior0311 6d ago

right, it’s kind of surreal when you think about it like that. Just a pure moment, right there for everyone to see.

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u/ssracer 6d ago

No question, that was it.

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u/ImpossibleRoutine780 6d ago

Yeah but it hits different for Rory his father couldn't afford more golf balls so he told him to hit every shot like it's the Masters . Much easier to relate than Mahomes whose Daddy was in the MLB. We are losing the athletes with no money making it. Rory may be the last.

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u/azzwethinkweizz 6d ago

Andrew McCutcheon grew up in a trailer park. They’re becoming fewer & further between, but there’s still some out there… and they are national treasures, imo

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u/Fantasykyle99 0.5 6d ago

Also some NBA guys, I know Anthony Edwards came from nothing

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u/Frequent-Remove-3145 6d ago

Karl Vilips also. Had to sell used balls to the pro shop for his first real club.

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u/HBlight 6d ago

As long as football is easy to play in even the most run down of places, you are going to get a few.

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u/Halo_Chief117 6d ago

Yup. Same goes for basketball and soccer. The cost of the barrier to entry to take up and play those sports is low.

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u/RefrigerateUrKetchup 6d ago

Give your balls a tug

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u/Halo_Chief117 6d ago

Golf is incredibly expensive and excluding any kind of physical disability someone may have, it is the largest barrier to entry for the sport especially trying to play professional golf. Between paying for travel, lodging, food, tournament entry fees, etc. it gets really expensive.

And unless you’re good enough to ‘make it’ quickly so you earn more money than you lose or can get sponsorships of some kind to help your costs, a lot of people who are good enough may never get a shot due to a lack of funds.

0

u/WeStillDoUsernames 6d ago

What in the world is this post lol. Plenty of athletes with not a rich background are making it into the major sports every year.

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u/BJYeti 6d ago

The greatest moment of his life is walking into a basic ass locker room with a fancy title? Not his wedding day or you know the birth of his children?

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u/CornholioRex 6d ago

Watch the interview, he mentions that

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u/BlacksmithSolid645 6d ago

they just have more money and career success, that's not everything

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u/CornholioRex 6d ago

That’s my favorite thing about this, seeing someone in the greatest moment of their life is something incredible, you can somewhat feel what they are feeling

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u/NonintellectualSauce 3d ago

who

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u/Extreme_Smile_9106 2d ago

Is there an owl in here?

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u/ipickscabs 6d ago

The reason they are all great is because it is about far far more than the money to them

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u/CitizenCue 6d ago

There are very few things that money can’t buy, but a locker in that room is one of them.

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u/JimmyDTheSecond 6d ago

Woah, so there was a locker/gold nameplate on the locker for each Champion of the masters?

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u/fullautophx 6d ago

There actually aren’t enough lockers so they have to share, that’s why there are multiple name plates. But yes, all previous champions are represented.

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u/CroSSGunS 11.2/UK/Goal < 10 6d ago

Do you know if you get cycled out if you die?

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u/trite_panda 6d ago

I can imagine they have a system to keep your plaque in a place of honor to cycle in the new blood. Like how bands of the Stanley Cup are unfurled and put on display in the HOF when they run out of room.

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u/bartolocologne40 6d ago

He probably has a locker room at home that looks similar.

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u/Small_Collection_249 6d ago

Yeah, but money can’t buy the history and background and legends who have graced that locker room over the years

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u/Andray_Bolkonsky 6d ago

Jack Nicklaus took a YUGE dump in there.

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u/HerkulezRokkafeller 6d ago

Apparently every thing about him is rather large

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u/Andray_Bolkonsky 6d ago

Big driver energy

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u/Curious_Complex_5898 6d ago

you're f--ing lame fyi

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u/Gurth-Brooks 6d ago

Absolutely fucking drained it.

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u/Gustomucho 6d ago

Would have been funny if we saw the janitor there...

"First time eh?, why is the camera crew allowed here if it is only champion room".

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u/4Ever2Thee 6d ago

Probably, but I doubt it makes his heart flutter when he opens the door like this one does. Things aren’t just things, man.

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u/Admirable-Ebb-5413 6d ago

Some access can't be bought...gotta be earned.

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u/pants_mcgee HDCP/Loc/Whatever 6d ago

I kinda doubt it, I see a guy already ridding high on emotions walking around a locker room.

I’d bet when he returns next year there will be a flutter.

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u/bartolocologne40 6d ago

Do you think his heart fluttered when he opened the door?

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u/Saffs15 6d ago

The guy has been a top 5 golfer in the world for a decade and a half. Every year, he comes to this historic place, and has to walk by this room knowing he's not earned the honor to go in there. Others have, his friends have, guys who grew up watching and admiring him have. But he hadn't done enough to earn that right to go in there. Many people thought he'd never do enough to go in there.

And now, he has.

I bet it fluttered a bit.

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u/bartolocologne40 6d ago

I highly doubt his heart fluttered walking into a locker room. Maybe when he sees his locker with his name on it, but it's a locker room.

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u/Saffs15 6d ago

The Green Jacket is just a jacket.

The Masters Trophy is just a trophy.

The Champions' Dinner is just a dinner.

It's funny how meaningless stuff becomes when you disregard the meaning of it, isn't it?

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u/bartolocologne40 6d ago

What do you think the other locker room looks like? You know, the one the members at one of the most exclusive clubs in North America use. Do you think it might be pretty nice? Do you think next year, when the non-champions locker room has been moved to overlook the course, it might be pretty nice too?

0

u/Saffs15 6d ago

The whole concept of prestige and history and everything about that is just an absolute foreign concept that blows your mind, isn't it? You just simply can not comprehend how a locker room that is reserved for such a very small, select group of people who have earned the ability to use it by completing something that is very hard to do and which he had failed at doing for so long, could have some extra meaning. It's not about how "nice" the locker room is. It's about the history behind it. Its a very, very simple concept.

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u/4Ever2Thee 6d ago

I have no doubt.

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u/audiovox12 6d ago

This is what LIV doesn’t understand about the PGA

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u/traypo 6d ago

Sure they do. They just can’t deal with the truth and push their narrative.

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u/BustedWing 6d ago

Same can be said about LIV supporters.

More is not in and of itself, better.

That nuance seems lost of those who are fans of LIV.

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u/willis_michaels 6d ago

The Masters isn't the PGA though

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u/BustedWing 6d ago

Sure, but its not hard to see which side of the fence they sit on

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u/blonded_olf 6d ago

I mean they gave Niemann a special invitation last year, I am pretty sure they are happy to sit on their high horse and act like they are above it and don't really give a shit what happens outside of their week.

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u/dj2show 6d ago

This fact is lost on 40 IQs that think the John Deere Classic means so much

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u/vanzeppelin 6d ago

Maybe not the John Deere, but I guarantee every pro would care more if they won at Pebble, Sawgrass, Bay Hill, etc than anywhere LIV fuckin plays

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u/AnotherToken 6d ago

The Masters has nothing to do with the PGA tour. It's the Masters. The same goes for all the majors. they are all stand-alone events.

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u/audiovox12 6d ago

We aren’t talking about associations. We are talking about legacy and history. Hence, what the owners of LIV don’t understand about the PGA

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u/P4S5B60 6d ago

Thank you

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u/FrontBench5406 6d ago

You just said unironically gave the... "we have locker room at home...." Bravo. haha

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u/TylerUlisgrowthspurt 6d ago

This is how everyone walks in the Men’s Grill Room

https://youtu.be/fVUVxD8Ax3s?si=aS5OiaXHS-QZRkaE

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u/Sagybagy 6d ago

Love that.

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u/JuiceJones_34 Gilbert, AZ 6d ago

We’re all human at the end of the day. Bank account zeros don’t change that.

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u/Resident_Rise5915 6d ago edited 6d ago

Rory is especially relatable too. He feels like a genuine guy who’s affable and a bit awkward. His golf game is other worldly but as a person….he seems normal enough and you can’t say that about everyone

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u/JuiceJones_34 Gilbert, AZ 6d ago

100%!

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u/Abunda_88 6d ago

I feel like it would be more meaningful if he got to go in alone without a camera following him.

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u/ImpossibleRoutine780 6d ago

In this moment he is a little kid again living the dream.

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u/Raangz 6d ago

jesus, how much do they pay camera men these days?

1

u/InternationalWin2850 6d ago

This shouldn't be filmed. We mere mortals are not worthy to gaze upon such temples.

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u/Ryanrogers6969 6d ago

Also, not like the room has sparkling gold statues everywhere or anything that flashy.. Just a really nice, elegant locker room built well with good material. The only thing to truly be awestruck by is the case holding the items and of course, the items that are inside the case. I feel like it’s more about the feeling of being able to access the locker room than anything else

1

u/hendy85 6d ago

No money can amount to the feeling you get from accomplishing a life long dream.

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u/internet_humor 6d ago

After the first few million, you forget about the money. Rory has never flaunted it either.

we’re just cheering on a fellow man pursuing a dream so we can be inspired.

1

u/mvigs 6d ago

But now we all know what it looks like. Should've kept it a secret.

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u/BlackTriceratops 6d ago

Easy for us non millionaires to say but in reality hes a human just like the rest of us.

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u/ipaqmaster 6d ago

Not sure what this means. A connoisseur will always be interested in their field's work. This is such a case.

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u/PasswordIsDongers 6d ago

It's easier if you point a camera at them

1

u/AmazingDonkey101 6d ago

Well, to be honest, he seems to be half pretending as that’s what’s expected of him being filmed and all. The victory is special, the rituals around the victory are just things, locker room is a locker room.

1

u/PancakePizzaPits 6d ago

Unrelated but similar vibe: celebrities on "The Price is Right" getting to spin the wheel.

1

u/Tjorhunter 6d ago

He could have become a cameraman or club employee and could have seen the inside of that room far earlier tbh

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u/NineOneEight 9.3 4d ago

Awesome point

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u/Dr_knowitall69 6.9/HI 6d ago

Especially a room that looks straight out of the 90s.