How did Rory McIlroy end winless slump? He needed a home game

Rory McIlroy didn’t need to win the Irish Open on Sunday. He didn’t need it for Ryder Cup momentum or his career resume. Winning would be nice, of course, he said a few days ago. But not a necessity. He was more focused on getting in contention, playing under pressure and making sure he was sharp for an upcoming important stretch.

Sure, you could believe all that. And maybe he does, too. But logic tells you his playoff win on Sunday at The K Club meant a whole lot more than that.

Just ask the boisterous home crowd that watched McIlroy win his national open up close.

“I feel so lucky I get to do this, that I get to do this in front of these people,” McIlroy said on Sunday, after he won his second Irish Open in a playoff. “The support has been absolutely amazing all week. I thought it was going to be a nice homecoming, obviously coming home with a green jacket and all that, but this has been absolutely incredible. This has exceeded all my exceptions and I’m so happy I could play and play the way I did this week for all of them.”

McIlroy took down 33-year-old Swedish pro Joakim Lagergren on the third playoff Sunday, winning with a birdie on the par-5 18th after Lagergren failed to match him, an anticlimactic finish after McIlroy set the gallery into a frenzy after he drained a long eagle putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff.

It was McIlroy’s first win since he claimed the Masters and completed the career Grand Slam in April, and it bookends an odd stretch that’s taken place in between.

McIlroy was winless over the summer, had an unusual stretch of media silence and said that finally fulfilling that lifelong dream of winning the Masters made it difficult to work on regaining his form and finding motivation. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t trying to win golf tournaments or stopped caring, but elite athletes need goals and are notorious for continuing to push back the goal posts. Scottie Scheffler talked about conquering that hurdle this season as well; how that high of winning can only last so long before you’re back looking for the next thing.

Although one powerful piece of motivation is coming home. McIlroy, who grew up in Northern Ireland, cares deeply about the Irish Open, a tournament he first won in 2016 at the same venue. His galleries were the biggest all week, and he was the clear favorite during the playoff, which included loud cheers when Lagergren hit his second shot into the water on the third playoff hole.

“There’s probably very few golfers who get the support I get when I go home,” McIlroy said. “This is absolutely incredible. I don’t take it for granted. I feel very grateful and lucky I get to do this. I can’t wait to celebrate tonight.”

McIlroy started the day 11 under and four shots off the lead held by Adrien Saddier, but after two bogey-less rounds on Friday and Saturday, McIlroy opened the final round with a bogey 5 on the first.

But he birdied three of the next four, and his birdie on the 9th got him to 14 under and in a four-way tie for the lead. He missed decent birdie looks on 10 and 11 before he flushed one in on 13, a putt that lipped all the way around and came back to the front, paused for a second and then dropped in for a solo lead.

Lagergren, who shot 62 on Friday, took the lead from McIlroy with an eagle on the 16th, and after he birdied the par-5 18th he held the clubhouse lead at 17 under.

McIlroy could only manage pars on Nos. 14-17, and he reached the 18th needing eagle to force a playoff. He found the fairway and then fired an 8-iron from 201 yards to about 20 feet short of the hole. He was frustrated with the result, but he had a chance to tie. A year ago, he was the runner-up at this tournament, and he missed an even shorter putt that would have forced a playoff with eventual winner Rasmus Højgaard.

This time, he didn’t miss.

McIlroy drained his putt with plenty of steam left on it, erupting the crowd and forcing bonus golf.

In the playoff, going back to the tee for the par-5 18th, both players found the green in two and two-putted from long distance for birdie. The “Rory! Rory! Rory!” chants returned as they walked off the green and jumped in carts to take them back to the 18th, and they tied again with birdies.

Playing the par-5 18th for a third time, Lagergren had the advantage when McIlroy drove it into the rough. But Lagergren flipped that when he pulled his approach into the water. McIlroy hit his second to the front of the green and two-putted for birdie. Lagergren needed to chip in to force a fourth playoff hole, but he couldn’t convert.

“To do what I did earlier in the year and to come home and win my national open, no matter what happens the rest of the year, that’s a pretty cool year,” said McIlroy, seconds after he won with fans still cheering nearby. “2025 is going to go down as one of the best, if not the best, of my career.”

Those watching close by would agree.