Rory McIlroy considers himself fortunate that his Masters triumph played out exactly as it did, reflecting on an emotional moment that few in golf will ever experience, reports BritPanorama.
Back in April, the Northern Irishman secured the first green jacket of his career after beating Justin Rose in a tense play-off clash at Augusta.
The day was a rollercoaster, with McIlroy sinking to the green in tears following his triumph. Now, speaking nine months on, he acknowledges that the dramatic way his victory unfolded leaves him feeling like a fortunate individual.
“The only thing I can think about is just how lucky I was that it happened the way it did, because I don’t think there’s a lot of other people in golf or in that’ll have the moment or the feeling that I had on that 18th green at Augusta that Sunday,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. He admitted to harbouring doubts about whether he would ever claim the Green Jacket before his April breakthrough, saying, “Yeah, I did doubt that moment would ever happen. I felt like I’d had loads of chances before.”
McIlroy carried a two-stroke advantage into the final day at Augusta, briefly extending his lead to four shots before his round took a turbulent turn. A bogey at the 11th hole preceded disaster at the par-five 13th, where he found the water and walked away with a double-bogey. The 36-year-old dropped another shot at the 14th but steadied himself with birdies at the 15th and 17th holes.
A bogey at the final hole of regulation forced a play-off against Rose, where McIlroy converted a short birdie putt on the first extra hole to secure his fifth major championship. The victory ended an 11-year drought since his 2014 PGA Championship triumph, during which he recorded 21 top-10 finishes in majors without claiming the title.
McIlroy’s emotional reaction stemmed not only from years of near-misses at Augusta but also from memories stretching back to his childhood in Holywood, Northern Ireland. “The reaction was years of going there and trying and failing but it was also all the years before that, when I would sit down in my family room with my dad in Holywood,” he explained. “We would watch The Masters as a boy and a father and just think about playing that tournament one day.”
The presence of his caddie Harry Diamond made the moment particularly poignant, as the pair had watched Tiger Woods’s famous chip-in against Chris DiMarco at the 2005 Masters together. McIlroy’s Augusta triumph made him only the sixth male golfer in history to complete the career Grand Slam and the first European to achieve the feat.
The Masters glory formed part of an extraordinary 2025 campaign that McIlroy now regards as the finest of his career. Beyond Augusta, he captured the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship on the PGA Tour, while also claiming a dramatic play-off victory at the Amgen Irish Open on the DP World Tour.
McIlroy played a pivotal role in Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph at Bethpage Black, contributing 3.5 points as the visitors secured a 15-13 victory over the United States. “I could maybe say that I won more majors in 2014, but I feel this year to me [is best] because of the things that I felt like I had left to achieve in my career – to be able to win The Masters, to win an away Ryder Cup, to win my National Open,” McIlroy insisted. The 36-year-old also claimed a seventh Race to Dubai title.
Such moments in sport illuminate the fine line between triumph and despair, with McIlroy’s journey echoing the relentless pursuit of greatness that defines so many athletes.
