The ‘Good Luck’ New Zealand Keepsake That Helped Rory McIlroy Win Masters

Driving down Magnolia Lane each day en route to winning the Masters, McIlroy held a gift he received playing with fellow Tour pro Ryan Fox and the former prime minister of New Zealand.

Rory McIlroy had a native New Zealand keepsake with him during his historic triumph at the Masters. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Luck of the Irish? Or luck of the pounamu? 

For Rory McIlroy, perhaps it’s both. 

The Northern Irishman, of course, won the Masters this year to complete the career Grand Slam after a series of heartbreaks in Augusta. But McIlroy might not have been able to do it without a lucky charm from Ryan Fox’s homeland. 

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Late in 2024, McIlroy traveled to New Zealand to play Tara Iti with Fox, a two-time PGA Tour winner from New Zealand, and the country’s former prime minister, John Key. 

During McIlroy’s voyage, Key presented him with a pounamu, which are carvings made out of green stones and hold a special meaning to the native Māori culture. 

And they were with McIlroy every day at Augusta National. 

“Rors kind of said to me the first time I saw him after Augusta, and I’d just won Myrtle Beach, as well, ‘John had gifted me that [pounamu] and I felt like it was good luck. I wore it down Magnolia Lane every day,’” Fox said in a media call for the BMW Australian PGA Championship. “John actually texted me a photo of him in a golf cart with Rory wearing his pounamu, which was really cool.”

“It’s a mark of prestige, we call it mana, basically. Obviously it means a lot to Rory … it was a nice little story that we had a little bit of Kiwi on him when he was at Augusta.”

The luck of the Māori.