In the early hours of the 14th of April 2025 UK time, Rory McIlroy finally ended his long, long major drought. His last victory in one of the game’s big four events came way back in 2014, at that year’s USPGA Championship. Many, quite possibly including the man himself, had begun to believe that he might never win another major.
There had been so many near misses since he won his fourth major at Valhalla on the 10th of August 2014. Since then, when the golfing world was at his feet, and many experts were wondering whether or not the Holywood ace might even challenge Jack Nicklaus’s record haul of majors, there has been heartache, tears aplenty and a feeling that it just wasn’t meant to be.
Rory won his first four majors in four seasons and then went 10 whole calendar years without picking up another. However, in between winning his fourth and fifth majors, the Northern Irishman recorded a massive 21 top-10 finishes in the big four events. 2021 and 2024 were the only years where he did not make the top 10 at least twice in that time but in 2022 he finished second, eighth, tied fifth and third.
So near and yet so far had become a terrible, unwanted habit and the more entrenched such things became, the harder it was to stop the rot. But stop the rot Rory has, not only winning a major, but winning the one he coveted most: the US Masters.
Photo credit: Matt, flickr
Rory’s Rollercoaster Ride to Glory
Over the years McIlroy has set many records and he certainly made history in a number of ways at Augusta in 2025. One of the more interesting stats about his win was that he became the first champion at the Masters to make four double bogeys. He played four holes in eight over par and the other 68 in 19 under! That epitomises the sort of wild ride his victory was and the final round was a real rollercoaster both for the player and for his millions upon millions of fans around the world, who were hoping for the best but fearing the worst.
The man himself did an incredible job of keeping his emotions in check, something he has not always found easy. His work with renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella really paid off and despite a round that switched from the sublime to the ridiculous (and back again) multiple times – often on the same hole – Rory remained calm and composed. At least it looked that way on the outside.
His supporters, in contrast, were no doubt pulling their hair out, biting their nails and reaching for a beer or something stronger! To start with, before his up-and-down round forced them to imbibe something even stronger.
He headed into the final round two shots clear of playing partner and 2024 US Open nemesis Bryson DeChambeau. Rory opened with a double bogey, and a birdie for DeChambeau on two meant that the lead was now the American’s. However, the eventual champion then birdied three and four, with bogeys at both for his rival, and all of a sudden the two-shot lead Rory started with had become three.
At that stage, Justin Rose was not really on anybody’s radar as a possible winner. Rose began the day seven back on five under but he steadily began to put together an incredible round. In all he made 10 birdies, though these were offset somewhat by four bogeys, getting him into the clubhouse on 11 under.
DeChambeau faltered and Ludvig Aberg, at one stage in a three-way tie for the lead, dropped out of contention thanks to a bogey on 17 (and then a triple on 18). Before all of that though, Rory seemed to have things just about sewn up, as he reached 14 under through 10.
A bogey on 11 still meant he had a four-shot cushion; the 11th was the moment when a double for Bryson probably ended his hopes. However, on 13 McIlroy produced a shot of unfathomable terribleness, finding water from 82 yards after laying up at the par five. He ended with another double and his lead was down to one.
He dropped another shot on 14 and when Rose birdied 16 it was he, not Rory, who led the US Masters – with time running out. On 15 Rory found the trees with his drive and whilst he remained sanguine, fans must have feared the worst. However, McIlroy then produced a shot for the ages, hitting a soaring seven iron from over 200 yards that hooked miles around the trees in front of him, over the water and settled just six feet from the hole.
Of course, rolling in the eagle putt would not be in keeping with his licence to thrill, so he missed, settling for a birdie. From here on it seemed his only aim was to toy with our emotions and for the most part he alternated between brilliance and carelessness. A brilliant tee shot at 16 was followed by a terrible putt, a sensational birdie on 17 was followed by a duffed second on 18 into a bunker. Which was followed by an excellent escape but then a miss, for the championship, from just a few feet.
No Mistake in Play-off
It was a thrilling ride and it ended with a play-off between two close friends and Ryder Cup teammates. Rose and Rory both ended on 11 under par and so headed to the 18th tee for a sudden death play-off. Rose had lost this way to Sergio Garcia back in 2017 and he would join Ben Hogan as one of only two players to have twice lost the Masters in this fashion.
Both men held their nerve to find the fairway and Rose then hit a nice shot onto the green. However Rory only had a wedge and played one of the best shots of his career, given the circumstances. His approach ended just four feet from the hole and when Rose missed his birdie effort, McIlroy had another short putt on 18 to seal the deal.
Patience prevails. #themasters pic.twitter.com/8sBja7kiuz
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 14, 2025
This time there was no mistake and he rolled his ball into the hole, simultaneously moving himself into the record books. The Northern Irishman now stands alongside Tiger, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Hogan and Gene Sarazen in an elite club of just six men who have won a career Grand Slam. The hope is that this win opens the floodgates and that Rory can further cement his place alongside the greatest players in the long history of the game of golf.