AUGUSTA, GA. The downside in having talent is the expectation placed on you by others.
When Rory McIlroy turned professional in 2007 the prediction of certain greatness was a storyline repeated time after time.
By the age of 25 McIlroy had won four major championships – a feat accomplished only by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
However, the spigot for more majors then ran dry.
How long?
Nearly 11 years.
That drought ended in grand fashion Sunday when Rory McIlroy attained his ultimate glory — a Masters green jacket.
The road he needed to take during the final road was anything but assured and the 89th Masters was a vindication in overcoming episodes of doubt that repeatedly flared up during past final rounds in major events. This year’s Masters was a personal test with an array of spellbinding twists and turns.
In the end — McIlroy made rare golf history – becoming just the 6th golfer to have won the career Grand Slam. The last to do so came in 2000 when Tiger Woods won The Open Championship at St. Andrews.
The back story of McIlroy’s early professional journey bears examining.
Rory nearly won the Masters in 2011 as a 21-year-old when the Northern Irishman had a four-shot lead entering the final round before crashing with a final round 80.
McIlroy used the setback as a motivating factor. Just two months later winning the U.S. Open at Congressional in convincing fashion setting a new 72-hole scoring record and winning the championship by eight shots.
Three years after that he would secure his fourth major title and second Wannamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship. The stage was firmly put in place for more majors to follow.
But over the course of nearly 11 years a number of instances would take place that kept McIlroy from adding to his major total.
In 2022 he was outplayed at The Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Last year — he maintained the lead late into the final round at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst but woeful putting mishaps opened the door for Bryson DeChambeau to claim the title.
McIlroy looked to be cruising to certain victory at this year’s Masters but then inexplicably made double-bogey 7 at the par-5 13th after sloppily playing an 85-yard wedge shot which found the creek that borders the green. At the 14th a bogey was registered when a seven-foot par putt stubbornly remained outside the hole.
Now, what seemed like certain victory just 30 minutes prior had become a head spinning situation with other players now in the mix. McIlroy then played a sensational approach to the par-5 15th in hitting a high-hooking 7-iron to 5 feet for eagle. But there would be no payoff- the putt missed and he settled for a birdie there.
At the par-3 16th he played a quality 8-iron to 10 feet. Again – missing the putt.
The par-4 17th saw him play another 8-iron to 4 feet away. This time the putt was holed and he came to the 18th needing just a par to claim the tournament.
A superb drive left just 125 yards from the green. Then another heart-stopping moment happened. McIlroy’s gap wedge went right landing in a greenside bunker. His recovery left him 5-feet for the win. What looked like a fitting ending — no pun intended — in his green jacket journey was not to be. The putt missed and a playoff with a surging Justin Rose would be needed to settle matters as both men concluded play with a 277 total (11-under-par).
Both men played the par-4 18th well. Rose had 15-feet for his birdie but the putt slid right of the hole at the last moment. McIlroy played his approach from nearly the same location as he did in regulation play. This time, however, his gap wedge finished 3 feet from the hole.
McIlroy stroked the ball into the bottom of the hole and the pent-up emotions emerged. Falling to his knees and covering his head in his hands the outpouring of both total joy and ultimate relief was now at-hand. The major-less streak of nearly 11 years had finally been placed forever in Rory’s rear-view mirror.
McIlroy’s assessment following the triumph was totally candid.
“My battle was with my self today – it was a struggle to get over the line today.”
Before coming to Augusta, McIlroy had a sit-down meeting with Jack Nicklaus. The 18-time major champion and winner of a record six green jackets said it succinctly about McIlroy.
“The discipline is what Rory has lacked in my opinion. He’s got all the shots- he’s got all the game. He’s certainly is as talented as anybody in the game. If you look back at his history the last few years he gets to a place where an eight or seven pops up That keeps him from where he needs to go.”
McIlroy started this year’s Masters in fine fashion Thursday. Reaching four-under-par through the first 14 holes before scoring double-bogies at the 15th and 17th holes respectively and derailing what should have been a sub-70 round.
McIlroy bounced back in the second and third rounds – scoring 66 in each and building a two-shot edge over his closest pursuer DeChambeau.
At the opening hole for Sunday’s round the lack of discipline Nicklaus outlined resurfaced. McIlroy double-bogied the hole and the solo lead was gone. After DeChambeau birdied the 2nd hole McIlroy then trailed by a single shot.
What then happened showed the discipline Nicklaus mentioned and which McIlroy needed to demonstrate. He birdied the 3rd and 4th holes and was finally able to regain control until the chaotic back nine.
No Masters champion has ever scored four double-bogies in a tournament and still donned the green jacket. For McIlroy failure was not an option.
So where does McIlroy find himself on golf’s all-time pecking order?
The 35-year-old now has the same number of major wins as Brooks Koepka ad Seve Ballesteros. However, his attainment of membership in the career Grand Slam club, plus the totality of wins over the length of his career has him ahead of both.
Although McIlroy trails Lee Trevino, Phil Mickelson and Nick Faldo by one major victory – his career Grand Slam accomplishment provides him a cleat edge over each of the three. The only one of the three with the best of arguments is Mickelson who has won more PGA Tour titles, secured a major win after turning 50 and was runner-up n the U.S. Open a record six times.
The monkey on McIlroy’s back is now removed forever. Coming into 2025 McIlroy stated three important goals. Win the Masters, an Olympic medal and be part of a road-winning Euro Ryder Cup team on U.S. soil. He now has achieved one of them and the likelihood in doing so with the other two is clearly attainable.
What lies ahead? The PGA Championship in Charlotte is next on golf’s major calendar in mid-May. McIlroy is well-versed in the venue at Quail Hollow having won the PGA Tour‘s Wells Fargo Championship a record four times (2010, 2015, 2021 and most recently 2024).
Will the floodgates open for McIlroy in adding even more major titles? Momentum and self-belief can be powerful elements spurring athletes to even greater heights.
McIlroy will savor the Augusta triumph and plans to visit his parents in Northern Ireland next week to honor the considerable sacrifices both made for their prodigy son.
The promise of talent can be aborted for any number of reasons. Unexpected injuries can happen. A lack of passion can mean a satiation in one’s drive to keep pushing onward. Then there is the reality that one’s relevance can be supplanted by a host of other talented players.
It’s been said so many times that one’s golf game is never owned — just rented for a finite amount of time.
Past questions of McIlroy’s enduring futility in the major events quickly became tiresome. When would the next major win come? Was he up to the task in doing so given the string of various past failures?
The unrelenting cauldron of pressure that is manifested in golf’s four major championships is what separates the contenders from the pretenders.
McIlroy spent nearly 11 years in the wilderness — no major wins happening even when racking up victories in a number of other events.
What lies ahead for Rory in 2025? Will a 6th major happen this year?
Many have opined that once the pressure in ending the major-less steak is over the floodgates will open for Rory to secure even more legacy victories in golf’s major championships.
That development certainly bears watching.
The jubilation from the patrons at Augusta on hand to witness McIlroy’s winning moment was prolonged and heartfelt. Clearly, on the same level as when Woods won his 5th green jacket in 2019 and when Mickelson earned his first Masters title in 2004.
When defending champion Scottie Scheffler assisted the placing of the green jacket on McIlroy’s shoulders the sense of relief and personal satisfaction was palpable in Rory’s eyes.
How surreal for the boy who grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland to have a fitting ending worthy of a Hollywood movie.
Rory’s glory is one happy ending story.
