A Sunday evening at Augusta National Golf Club in Atlanta. The spectators at the 2025 Masters tournament hold their breath. At the 18th hole, in the fourth and final round, 35-year-old Rory McIlroy studies his putt for over a minute before tapping it with his putter.
McIlroy, born in Northern Ireland, has been enthralled by golf from a young age.
His father Gerry guided him through his quick ascent in the junior golf ranks. The golfing world already knew about his capabilities. Fanatics and fellow professional golfers were getting ready for the earthquake that McIlroy would bring to the golfing world when he turned professional in 2007.
Back at Augusta National on April 13, the putt rolls towards the finish line. It has been a crushing Sunday for McIlroy. He gained a five-stroke lead that quickly disappeared with a double bogey on the first and 13th holes, and his main competitor, Justin Rose, went six-under. The ball rolls past, left of the hole, inches, if not centimeters, from falling in. McIlroy goes 11-under in the tournament. With Rose’s birdie on the 18th, the Masters will go to a playoff.
McIlroy showed his success early. Just four years into his career, in 2011, he won the U.S. Open, setting the record for the lowest score under par in the tournament’s history at 16 under par, 268 over 72 holes. He then went on to win the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championships and the 2014 Open Championship. He became one of the youngest players to win three major titles in golf by the age of 25.
The walk back to the tee box at Augusta is slow as McIlroy seemingly tries to shake off the sour memories of his time in Augusta National three years ago. After a roaring comeback in the final round, where he went eight under par, he was not able to overcome his two 73s in the first and second rounds.
With that out of mind, he teed off for the playoff round. A perfect sit in the middle of the fairway.
McIlroy is trying to be the sixth golfer in modern golfing history to achieve a career grand slam. Looking to complete the journey. It had been 10 years since he had won the Open Championship, and with some success in the Master’s tournament two years ago, he was so close to victory he could taste it.
The second shot he takes on the par four is near godlike. Slightly before that, Rose had just landed his second stroke about 20 feet from the hole. McIlroy is three feet from the hole.
Rose taps his putter to the ball as it rolls on the notorious hilly greens of Augusta National. It goes perfectly straight but just misses to the right. Rose taps it in easily for a par.
McIlroy, three feet from glory, took two minutes to make sure he did not miss the hole. As the putter leads the ball towards the hole, the crowd takes a breath before exploding into a roar. He had done it. McIlroy is a legend, joining the likes of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
The crowd goes wild, but also an OPRF History teacher goes wild. “I was nervous before he even teed off,” said William Young, the boys golf coach at Oak Park and River Forest High School. “But then to win it in the playoff shows the amount of resilience he had after all the adversity he’s had at Augusta throughout the years.”
McIlroy walks to the Green Jacket ceremony, stopping nearly every 10 feet to hug a friend or family member. The 2024 Master’s champion, Scottie Scheffler, puts the green jacket on McIlroy. It’s more than a jacket; it’s an imprint of stardom. He is the best of the best.
He is among legends.
