Rory McIlroy: Masters champion dinner featuring elk and one of his mother’s dishes

Rory McIlroy will use one of his mother’s favorite dishes among his entrees, which also includes elk, when he hosts the traditional champion dinner ahead of his Masters Championship defense next month.

The most recent winner at Augusta selects the roster for the other past champions at an event held at the clubhouse on the Tuesday evening of Masters week.

McIlroy’s selections include some of his favorite dishes, as well as a reminder of his dramatic victory in 2025, which ended an 11-year wait to complete his Grand Slam career with a major title.

“I think it would be a bit of a stretch to have a menu in your head before you actually win the tournament,” the Northern Irishman said.

“But I always thought, ‘If I win the Masters one day, what do I want it to look like? What do I want to serve?’

“This time I felt like I wanted to do something that I would enjoy, but I wanted to do something that all the other heroes would enjoy as well.”

Before McIlroy and former champions like Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson sit down, they will have a choice of four entrees.

“My mom makes these delicious dates stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in bacon, so I put them on my appetizer list. So thanks to Rosie for that.”

“Leading up to the Masters last year, I got this big shipment of elk and I was eating a lot of them, and I didn’t want elk to be the main course because I didn’t know if everyone was going to like that.

“I incorporate that into appetizers so I make grilled elk sliders, which I think are fun.”

There will also be tempura shrimp, Georgia peaches, and ricotta flatbread with hot honey.

The opening is a nod to McIlroy’s favorite New York restaurant, Le Bernardin, where the 36-year-old always orders the yellowfin tuna carpaccio.

He added, “This is a fun thing that the club worked on with me.”

“They went up to the restaurant and worked with the chefs and made sure it was done. They obviously wanted to do it right all night long.”