Sunday was going to end in tears for Rory McIlroy, one way or another.
The Northern Irishman arrived at the final round of the 2025 Masters leading Bryson DeChambeau by two strokes. Just 18 holes stood between McIlroy and the type of carthasis that only exorcising the darkest of demons can deliver.
McIlroy’s round started poorly with a double bogey at the first. After a sloppy par at the second, he had already lost the lead. McIlroy responded and reclaimed the lead at No. 3. That margin grew to four when McIlroy reached the par-5 13th. But a planned coronation stalled out when McIlroy dumped his third shot into the water and made double bogey. With Justin Rose mounting a furious charge ahead, McIlroy suddenly found himself needing a strong finish to stop another horrific major collapse from taking place.
McIlroy birdied 15 and 17 and held a one-shot lead heading to 18. But he missed his par putt, sending himself and Rose to a sudden-death playoff.
Both players striped their tee shots on the first playoff hole, No. 18, and Rose hit his approach shot to 15 feet. McIlroy answered by stuffing his to four feet.
Rose’s birdie putt missed on the low side, leaving McIlroy with four feet to end his major drought, claim a green jacket and become the sixth player in history to win the career Grand Slam.
Four feet between McIlroy and destiny.
With past major failures still rattling around in his head, McIlroy knocked his legacy-changing putt in the center of the hole and let out a primal roar as the scar tissue and demons finally exited his body.
It has been 14 years since McIlroy owned the 54-hole lead at the 2011 Masters and imploded by shooting a final-round 80. It has been almost 11 years since his last major championship victory at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Time has passed since then. McIlroy has had multiple Hall-of-Fame-worthy careers in between. He has been battered, bruised, and bloodied on the biggest stages and kept dusting himself off to go again, believing that eventually his time would come.
With the sun setting at Augusta National on Sunday, April 13, 2025, McIlroy’s time at the Masters finally arrived.
