AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rory McIlroy wasn’t sure which direction to turn. He certainly wasn’t going to make a right into the champions' parking lot, but pressing forward along Magnolia Lane and valeting his car had its own set of issues.

It was the Tuesday night before last year’s Masters and McIlroy had dinner plans at Augusta National Golf Club.

Just not those dinner plans.

Instead, he had an evening meal scheduled with Justin Rose and a few of the club’s members. Harmless enough until he realized he was arriving right as the champion’s dinner was getting underway on the balcony above him.

“I'm like, well, do I go and park way over at the parking lot?” McIlroy said Tuesday, motioning off to the side. “Because I'm not going to park in the champions' parking lot. Then, at that specific moment, the champions were having their cocktails out on the balcony. I'm like, I don't want to valet, get out, they're going to see me, and it's going to be weird.

“Thankfully, that was the last time that I needed to do that,” he said.

It’s a new world for McIlroy as he returns to the Masters for the first time as one of its champions, freed from expectations and anxiety that he carried around for his first 17 years around this place. McIlroy arrived on-site on Saturday, some 48 hours before he normally would, content to revel in his accomplishments and excited, not antsy, to be on property. He watched the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Drive, Chip and Putt competition over the weekend and played a round Sunday afternoon with his father, another perk of being a champion. He was giddy discussing the champion’s dinner that was just a few hours away. There would be no awkward arrivals this year. He’s the host.

McIlroy seemed immensely aware of all those facts as he spoke Tuesday from the Augusta National Press Center. If there’s a theme of McIlroy’s week, it's that he’s doing everything possible to be present and aware of all the little moments he spent a decade chasing. There will be nothing lost on McIlroy this week. In previous years, he couldn’t wait for the tournament to begin – just hoping to fast-forward to Thursday morning so he could get on with the tournament and not have to think or answer questions about why he’s never won or whether this would finally be the year he seized the moment and won the green jacket. He was happy to discuss that now.

“I wouldn't care if the tournament never started,” McIlroy said. “That's sort of the difference.”

It’s fair to wonder if all the pomp and circumstance and McIlroy’s willingness to lean into it will affect his chances to defend. McIlroy didn’t think so, but he also didn’t seem to care if it did. He’s a Masters champion forever, but there’s no guarantee McIlroy will ever drive back up Magnolia Lane as the reigning Masters champion. So while he is, he’s going to soak in every moment of it.

Perhaps part of it is that McIlroy isn’t quite sure what life will look like after this Masters. He spent a decade chasing the grand slam. Then he won it, and for the last 12 months he’s enjoyed celebrating it. What followed was a post-Masters malaise that extended through much of last spring and summer as he came to the realization that there still needed to be a life after the Masters. In all his meticulous preparation to win the green jacket, he never got far enough to wonder what would come next.

“The story as it relates to me is what do I do from now onwards," said McIlroy. "What motivates me? What gets me going? What do I still want to achieve in the game? I think that's the story. And there's still a lot that I want to do. You think every time you achieve something or have success that you'll be happy, but then the goalposts move, and they just keep nudging a little bit further and further out of reach."

McIlroy didn’t state plainly what those goals might be. He may not even have them yet. Feel free to wonder about it next week at the RBC Heritage, or next month at the PGA Championship, or next year when he’s back at Augusta National again. For this week, that question is on hold.

“I think what I've realized is, if you can just really find enjoyment in the journey, that's the big thing,” McIlroy said, “because honestly, I felt like the career Grand Slam was my destination, and I got there, and then I realized it wasn't the destination.”