Every golf fan saw Rory McIlroy go down on his knees when he won the Masters in 2025. Since then, he has talked about the feeling and the pride in almost every other interview he has given. But for the first time, the Northern Irishman candidly spoke about the strict rules that accompany the iconic green jacket.

“You have to sign a legal document to take it out of the club. And there’s dos and don’ts with it. You have to wear a certain shirt, and you have to wear a club tie, and you only wear dress shoes. You can’t wear trainers,” McIlroy revealed on The Overlap YouTube channel.

“That’s what makes it such a great place. It’s like they know who they are, and they stick to it. And it’s also one of the reasons that they have one of the best brands in sport. It’s because they are so meticulous, and they do everything in such a way that, yeah.”

The iconic garment for the winner at the Masters comes with strict guidelines. These green jackets are reserved only for Augusta National members and the Masters winners. But these people only have access to the jacket when they are inside the club’s premises. The only one who can take it out for one year is the most recent Masters winner. After that, even past winners get to wear their hard-earned jackets only at Augusta National.

This tradition dates back to 1949. It is the same tradition that sees the most recent winner putting on the jacket on the new winner during the ceremony. And these are not the only ones. There are many more rules that golfers, club members, and fans must follow. For instance, patrons face several zero-tolerance policies during the tournament week. This includes no cell phones or cameras, no yelling or heckling, collared shirts, no denims, etc. Rory McIlroy says that these very strict rules and regulations make Augusta National one of the best brands in the sports world.

However, as the most recent champion, Rory McIlroy has enjoyed taking the green jacket off the course and wearing it multiple times around the globe. He wore it at the Amgen Irish Open and then in India when he went to meet Sachin Tendulkar during his visit there for the DP World India Championship. The career Grand Slam winner then had it on in Dubai before taking it to Australia for the Australian Open.

He even wore it on Halloween 2025 as the Wizard of Oz, since his daughter wanted to be Galinda from Wicked. The 5x major champion basically wore it whenever he got the chance. At one point, he even got fed up with it, but soon realized that he should not.

Rory McIlroy complained about wearing the green jacket

The 29x PGA Tour winner was wearing the green jacket in every event he played in. When he got fed up, he started grumbling about it.

“I sort of complained about wearing it in Abu Dhabi. And I said to my wife, Erica, ‘If you ever hear me complain about wearing this thing again, punch me or do something because I’ve waited my whole life to wear this and now I’m complaining about wearing it,'” Rory McIlroy said at the CNBC CEO Council Forum.

The Northern Irishman finally won the Masters in his 17th start. He had already started feeling like he may never be able to win it. But in 2025, he defeated Justin Rose in the first playoff round with a birdie putt to win the event. He had multiple close finishes in the Masters since 2014. This included a runner-up finish in 2022. Besides that, he had six top-10 finishes in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020.

Having waited for more than a decade to complete his career Grand Slam, McIlroy understands that every rule tied to the green jacket is part of what makes it special.