Every year during the first week of April, people travel down to Augusta, Georgia to watch one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the U.S.: The Masters.
For Rory McIlroy it’s the tournament that he just couldn’t win. He has been trying for 11 years with his closest attempt being in 2022 and before that he had a four stroke lead in 2011 going into the finals where he double bogeyed which cost him the tournament.
History of The Masters
The golf club that the Masters is played at, Augusta National, was built in 1931 and founded by Bobby Jones and Cilfford Roberts. It opened in 1932 for limited play before officially opening in 1933. Bobby Jones was a professional golfer from 1923-1930 where he was the first to complete a grand slam. A grand slam in golf is when you win all of the four major tournaments (The Masters, U.S Open, PGA Championship, and the Open Championship). When Bobby completed his grand slam, however, the four major tournaments were the U.S Open, British Open, U.S amateur, and British amatrue.
The masters tournament has been running since 1934 and over the years, the course has changed from the original. In 2006 they moved the tee boxes back about 20-30 ft and in 2008 they added eight yards in front of the tea boxes.
Winning the masters is something that every pro golfer wants to do but very few succeed. The only golfer that has won more than five times is Jack Nicklaus who won six times.
McIlory vs Rose
This was Rory McIlory’s 17th time at the masters and he finally won it, although it hadn’t seemed like he was going to at the last hole.
Mcilory had the lead going into the 18th hole with a score of -12, but he bogeyed the 18th hole giving his opponent Justin Rose the chance to take them into a sudden death playoff.
Justin Rose drained his 20 ft putt to tie McIlory at -11, and the two headed back to hole 18. Rose had an 185 approach for his second shot that almost hit the hole straight on, but it bounced landing on the green 15 ft away from the hole. McIlory’s second shot landed four feet away from the hole.
Rose got to putt first because he was the farthest from the hole. He took several minutes to read the green, but his putt didn’t break and counted to roll past the hole. This is Rose’s second time being in a playoff where he missed his winning putt.
McIlory cleared his putt with no problem which put him at -12 for his final score and declared him the 2025 masters winner, a goal he had been chasing for the last 18 years.
Grand Slam Complete
Winning the masters made McIlory the 6th grand slam winner. McIlory started his journey on collecting the four major tournament wins for 14 years, with his first win being back in 2011 with the U.S Open which he won with a final score of -16
His next major tournament win was in 2012 at the PGA championship just a little over a year after the U.S Open. He won the tournament with a final score of -13 and an eight stroke lead. He also won the DP world championship in 2012 which is a tournament on the European tour.
In 2014 he won the Open tournament which is different from the U.S Open because it only takes place in England. He had a final score of -17 and a two stroke lead. He also won the PGA Championship again in 2014 with a higher score then the previous win, his final score being -16.
This year’s Masters not only completed his grand slam tour, but also his first major tournament win since 2014. He finished the tournament with a final score of -11 and a one stroke lead. By winning the Masters he got to wear the famous green jacket, a lifetime ticket to the tournament, a five year exemption to the other three major tournaments, and the cash prize of $4.2 million.
McIlory winning the Masters is well deserved and this year there were 12.7 million viewers watching the final round. McIlory’s dedication to this tournament goes to show how huge it is and his victory is a moment of history in golf.
