Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Relief at last for Rory McIlroy.Alamy Stock Photo Try to make sense of that Come on, you knew Rory McIlroy couldn't win the Masters in any way other than that McIlroy completed the Grand Slam with an Experience Like no Other. 6.31am, 14 Apr 2025 Share options Gavin Cooney COME ON. DID you really think he was going to do it any other way? Once upon a time we thought the only way Rory McIlroy would win a major was by sprinting away from the field and leaving no room for drama, but that was back when Rory McIlroy was merely a golfer, rather than an Experience. And so of course he won the Masters with an Experience Like No Other. He started the day with a two-shot lead and was level after the first hole and behind after the second hole and back in front after the third hole and three clear after the fourth hole and four clear through nine holes and still four clear after 12 holes but was then in a share for the lead after 13 holes and one behind after 14 and one ahead ahead after 15 and tied for the lead after 16 and one ahead after 17 and tied for the lead after 18 and the winner by one after the 19th hole play-off. Mark Sunday, 13 April down as Rory McIlroy’s Bloomsday; his Day of Everything. This was a grand hoard of every kind of emotion, action, impulse, fault and brilliance. And like Ulysses, it will be parsed for years by those who vainly try to make sense of it. He hit some of the worst shots of his life when it mattered most and he hit some of the best shots of his life when it mattered most. He knocked in the steeliest putts of his career and he missed the biggest putts of his career. He choked and he bounced back and he choked and he bounced back and he choked and he bounced back. He was blessed with good fortune and cursed with bad luck. He played as conservatively as everyone kept telling him to and made a hames of it and he played as recklessly as everyone kept telling him not to and made hay with it. Advertisement He proved every piece of critic’s scorn and he scorned all his critics. He faced down his ghosts and his ghosts faced him down. He missed a putt for the career Grand Slam and he holed a putt for the career Grand Slam. He sank to his knees and let loose 14 years of pent-up emotion in great, breath-gasping heaves, staggering back to the clubhouse punchdrunk on the sheer, concussive emotion of it all. There are now only five golfers in history who are the equal of Rory McIlroy, but, truly, some career Grand Slams are more equal than others. Gene Sarazen did it before it became the Final Boss that it is today; Ben Hogan and Gary Player took less than two years to complete it; while neither Nicklaus nor Woods left the Masters until last. McIlroy did his in the hardest means possible, as he left for last the only major to return to the same site every year; the major most likely to allow the media turn his ambitions into dramas and the patrons transfigure it into a pilgrimage. He also did it an era of stiffer and more unforgiving competition, against a backdrop of unprecedented media noise. And he took 11 damn years to do it. The years compound, the scar tissue spreads, and each thwarted shot at glory was made worse by the knowledge it would make next year even more difficult. And yet he actually went and did it. There was an asymmetry to the play-off. Where Justin Rose had to beat Rory McIlroy, Rory McIlroy had to beat Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy. In the end McIlroy took ‘em both, with a stunning wedge to 18 that, of course, he could have simply hit a few minutes earlier for a much easier life. But the point of this is that it wasn’t easy. If there wasn’t so much on the line, McIlroy would have knocked in that putt on 18 to win. In fact, if there wasn’t so much on the line he would have made his eagle putt on 15 and wouldn’t have gone into the creek on 13. He wouldn’t have made double-bogey on the first hole. He probably wouldn’t have made either of those double-bogeys on Thursday. But everything was on the line, and so he had to win it in the way he did. At heart of the terrifying thrill of watching McIlroy at the majors this past decade was that winning meant to so much to him, and that it was the depth of that meaning which stopped him winning in the first place. And so to win the Masters he had to make a microcosm of this past decade of lurch and joy and heartbreak. While Rory McIlroy has won the career Grand Slam, he has also faithfully carried our insatiable vicariousness. We invest great meaning in sport as we all want to get distracted and immersed and ludicrously carried away by fundamentally frivolous stuff, and that includes the flex of wealth and exclusivity by a tiny golf club in Georgia. But first we need the sportspeople themselves to underwrite our investment. If we’re going to care, they have to care first. The Masters and the Grand Slam meant so much to Rory McIlroy it took him 14 years to win it, but he never once flinched and shied away from his berserk yearning for it. How the hell could you not be having what he was having? “I sort of wonder,” wondered Rory McIlroy aloud in Butler Cabin before he slipped his arms through the green jacket, “what we will all talk about going into next year’s Masters.” Gavin Cooney Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Come on, you knew Rory McIlroy couldn't win the Masters in any way other than that ”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Come on, you knew Rory McIlroy couldn't win the Masters in any way other than that ”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. Leave a Comment Submit a report Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines. 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Leave a commentcancel Access to the comments facility has been disabled for this user View our policy ⚠️ Duplicate comment Post Comment have your say Or create a free account to join the discussion Rory McIlroy Try to make sense of that FreeThe legacy is complete Rory McIlroy completes astonishing Masters victory in play-off win over Justin Rose FreeAs it happened Rory McIlroy wins the Masters in mind-boggling drama Gavin Cooney Save the Date Leinster learn fate as fixture details confirmed for Champions Cup semi-finals Robinson the star of the show as UCC Demons edge Killester in thrilling Super League final Ireland's World Cup qualification dream dies after heartbreaking loss to Bangladesh Oscar Piastri eases to victory in Bahrain as Lando Norris battles back for third New rules but familiar result as Tyrone put Cavan to the sword in Omagh FreeAs it happened Rory McIlroy wins the Masters in mind-boggling drama Gavin Cooney Save the Date Leinster learn fate as fixture details confirmed for Champions Cup semi-finals Munster left to rue problems of their own making in Bordeaux masters 2025 'I'm not going to talk about Rory for 10 minutes. 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