Post Game

Rory roars into Grand Slam immortality — was it a win for the ages?

BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR

It’s possible that all Masters talk will have weakened a little by the end of the year when we’ll all have a better sense of where this year’s tournament ranks among the greatest Majors of all time. 

Right now, Rory McIlroy fans probably think it’s up there with Tiger Woods’s Masters win in 2019, Jack Nicklaus’ in 1986, Ben Hogan’s win in the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion, Bobby Jones’s U.S. Amateur win in 1930 (also at Merion), maybe even the 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry — “The Duel in the Sun” where Tom Watson beat Nicklaus by a shot after the two had separated themselves from the field — and the 2016 Open when Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson slugged it out at Royal Troon. 

There’s some recency bias there, because McIlroy wasn’t coming back from several surgeries (and numerous other hurdles) like Woods, or a life-threatening car crash like Hogan. Rory isn’t (at least yet) the player Nicklaus was, although it’s impossible to compare them accurately. He also isn’t 46, and though the competition was certainly stiff, he didn’t have to beat the caliber of player Nicklaus did in 1986. He may have won the career Grand Slam, but not the calendar Grand Slam (again, not yet) like Jones did. Quick note here, that the British and U.S. Opens, as well as the amateur championships of both countries were that era’s Majors. Also, McIlroy shot a final round 73, not 65 like Watson in ‘77 or 63 as Stenson did in ’16.

But, though it might take a few years before we can put this Masters in its proper place, we might not actually need recency bias to elevate 2025 to one of the two or three greatest ever. It’s probably true that writers these days tend to make everything they see the greatest, or most significant, or most enjoyable, or most interesting of all time. That said, 10, 50, or even 100 years from now, the golf world will surely be talking about this Masters as the most… something. 

Eleven years after his last major championship victory (an inexplicable, and at times painful stretch, that included nine top-three finishes), the boy from Northern Ireland finally won his fifth Grand Slam event. In doing so, he joined a very exclusive group of golfers who have won all four of the game’s biggest titles — Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Nicklaus and Woods. He also has two Players Championship wins, which could one day be very significant in his final tally of Major wins.

We would like to have made this column all about Fred Couples and Joe Highsmith, the two Washingtonians in the field, but apart from Couples’ amazing eagle two at the 14th in the opening round when he holed a 186-yard 6-hybrid, there really isn’t much to talk about, as both missed the cut by two shots.

  While Justin Rose — the gallant 44-year-old Englishman who shot a 10-birdie 66 to make it into the playoff — deserves a huge mention, there really is space for only one man here.

The 35-year-old (36 on May 4) McIlroy began the final round two clear of Bryson DeChambeau, but double bogeyed the first hole and then failed to birdie the easily-reachable par-5 2nd. His body language at that point was awful — that of a man who thinks he’s going to miss out again. It had improved immensely by the 11th tee, however, after he made a birdie at the tough 10th to go two-under for the round and open up a five-shot lead. 

Many no doubt thought it was all over, but others who have grown accustomed to the occasional McIlroy misstep (very occasional), thought it best to wait a few more holes before declaring him the winner. Sure enough, a dismal four-hole stretch (which included what must be the worst shot he has hit in many years, an 86-yard sand wedge into Rae’s Creek at the 13th) bought him back to the field, and when Rose birdied the 16th, the two Europeans were tied at -11.

After hitting the woeful wedge at the 13th, however, McIlroy struck one of his best shots ever two holes later when he drew (hooked?) a 7-iron from 206 yards around the trees to within five feet of the hole at the par-5 15th. It was the shot he had to hit, and my word, did he ever hit it. Another great iron came at the 17th, and then a great approach to the 18th in the playoff sealed the deal.

There were many hiccups along the way, and you know if Woods had held a five-shot lead after 10 holes, he would have shut it down — middle of the green to the house. 

Still, McIlroy’s mix of hiccups and brilliance resulted in a Masters you’ll one day enjoy reliving with your grandkids.