McIlroy’s Maiden Masters

The 2025 Masters has concluded with the victor being Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy. McIlroy has waited 11 years since his last major victory, which came at the 2014 PGA Championship. He has also waited the same length of time to win the career grand slam, with the Masters being the only major he had not won. McIlroy has had close calls in the Masters before, most notably at the 2011 Masters where he entered the final round with a 4-shot lead, before shooting a final round 80 to finish tied for 15th. In 2018 he entered the final round in 2nd place, 3 shots behind eventual winner Patrick Reed. He shot a +2 round of 74 in the final round to finish in a tie for 5th place. McIlroy has had a lot of heartbreak to overcome in the US Masters and he finally was able to overcome it and be victorious in the 2025 Masters.

Let’s take a look at McIlroy’s performance over the 4 days as well as what could possibly be next for the now 5-time major winner and career grand slam winner.

McIlroy’s Performance

Rory McIlroy began his Masters tournament with a huge amount of pressure on him. He was once again chasing the career grand slam, but this time felt different. He was coming into the tournament off the back of winning 2 tournaments this year, including the Players Championship.

All the media focus before the tournament was if McIlroy could finally complete the slam. 'Rors' started strong on Thursday and was -4 after 14 holes. However, disaster struck on the 15th as he made a double bogey. Another double bogey followed on 17 and McIlroy finished with a level par 72 on his opening round, 6 shots behind the leader. He made a great response on Friday to his poor ending on Thursday, carding a -6 round of 66, including an eagle on the 13th, hitting a brilliant shot out of the pine straw.

Saturday is known as moving day, and this was certainly true for McIlroy. He started in unbelievable form, with birdies on 1,3 and 5 as well as an eagle on 2 to move to -11 after just 5 holes. He moved back to -9 before responding with an eagle on 15 and eventually finished on -12, taking a 2-shot lead into the final round.

The final round was a rollercoaster of emotions for McIlroy and fans alike. McIlroy lost his outright lead after a double bogey on his 1st hole. He responded brilliantly with birdies on 3 and 4. He had bogies at 11 and 14 as well as a double bogey on 13 to lose his lead. He responded with birdies on 15 and 17 to take a one-shot lead to the 72nd hole. He would bogey the hole, which would result in a playoff with Justin Rose. A dream looked to be turning into a nightmare for McIlroy, but he once again responded to a setback, birdieing the playoff hole to finally win the Masters, and complete the career grand slam.

Future Possibilities

Rory McIlroy has finally completed the career grand slam, ending his 11-year wait for a major in the process. The future looks very bright - now having a huge weight lifted off his shoulders - winning the career grand slam and ending his major drought. He will now go into the major championships with a different perspective, as well as having less pressure on him. McIlroy will be eager to add to his major championship total and could even do that this year. The PGA Championship will be played in Quail Hollow, a course McIlroy has won on 4 occasions. The US Open will be played at the difficult Oakmont Country Club, which suits a long driver, which McIlroy is. Finally, the British Open will return to Northern Ireland and Royal Portrush, a place where McIlroy held the course record with a 61 on the old course.

Conclusion

The golfing world was delighted to see McIlroy finally win the green jacket. The tournament was a very exciting one, with the final round full of twists and turns. In the end, McIlroy showed great resilience to overcome multiple setbacks and end his major drought, to become just the 6th golfer to win the career grand slam.

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