In the week leading up to Rory McIlroy’s emotional green jacket victory at Augusta National in April, the Northern Irishman was wearing another green garment—an ancient and sacred stone gifted to him in New Zealand late last year.

Ryan Fox, who has won twice on the PGA Tour this season, described to reporters on Tuesday how McIlroy wore a pounamu necklace—a special stone from Fox’s homeland—while driving up Magnolia Lane each day during his Masters win.

McIlroy was presented the necklace while on a social golf trip to New Zealand’s Tara Iti course last December. While there, he played with a group including Fox and former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, an avid golfer who gifted McIlroy the pounamu.

“Yeah, when we played last year at Tara Iti, he was gifted a pounamu by John Key,”

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