Rory McIlroy has teased a much more informal menu could be on the cards for next year’s Masters Champions Dinner after he retained his title at Augusta National.
The Northern Irishman had the honor of hosting past Masters champions on the Tuesday night before this year’s tournament after finally ending his wait for a green jacket in 2025.
The annual tradition dates back to 1952 and sees previous Masters winners dine together. These days, the only other person in the room is Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National.
McIlroy hosted the most expensive Champions Dinner ever at $318 per head last month, a study from the Sportsbook Review revealed. For comparison, that’s more than three times costlier than 2024 champion Scottie Scheffler‘s menu from the year before.
And, during an appearance on New Heights on Wednesday, Travis Kelce and his brother Jason asked McIlroy if he’d given any thought to his menu for 2027 yet.
‘I went pretty fancy this year,’Â the Northern Irishman admitted.
Rory McIlroy has teased a much more informal menu at next year’s Masters Champions Dinner
The back-to-back winner was seen checking in on his Elk Sliders and bacon-wrapped dates
‘It’s always on the Tuesday night. So I could just do, like a Taco Tuesday or something? I don’t know.Â
‘We’ll see. I haven’t thought about it too much, but you know it’s hard, right?’
McIlroy’s menu this year started with four appetizers: elk sliders, rock shrimp tempura, peach and ricotta flatbread, and bacon-wrapped dates, with the latter inspired by his mother’s recipe.
Guests were then treated to Yellowfin tuna carpaccio with foie gras and chives, before a main course of Wagyu Filet Mignon or Seared Salmon.
That was served with Brussels sprouts, carrots, onion rings and Irish champ, which is typically a blend of mashed potatoes, scallions, milk, and butter.Â
McIlroy’s dessert of choice – ‘very much a crowd pleaser,’ he said – was sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and warm toffee sauce.Â
He explained that his good friend Shane Lowry helped him choose the wine list, which included a 1990 red from Bordeaux, France, that sells for $1,300 a bottle.
However, McIlroy did admit he was hesitant to include too many selections from his homeland of Northern Ireland.
McIlroy hosted the most expensive Champions Dinner ever at $318 per head, a study revealedÂ
Having successfully retained his title McIlroy will have the honor of hosting the dinner again
‘People keep asking me, “Why didn’t you go more Irish?”,’ the 36-year-old revealed in a pre-tournament press conference. ‘And I said, “Because I want to enjoy the dinner as well.”‘
Speaking about his joke, McIlroy added on New Heights: ‘I got a little s*** from back home for that. They were coming at me pretty hard for that at the start of the week.
‘I think everyone enjoyed the dinner. I tried to do enough dishes that would like please everyone.
‘I’m a big wine guy. I collect wine and I have done for like, the last 10 years. So the wine selection was something that was pretty important to me.
‘Augusta National’s wine cellar is one of the best in the world. There are 23,000 bottles down there, and it’s all just the best vintages.’
