Now that Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5) has finally completed his career Grand Slam, it’s worth putting it into context.
No player in men’s professional golf in recent years has been in the spotlight more than McIlroy.
In fact, it can be specifically pinpointed to the exodus of PGA Tour players to LIV Golf in 2022. For the all the big names who defected to LIV, McIlroy stayed true to the PGA Tour. He alternately fought for it, criticized it and its leadership, took some pointed swipes at LIV and its leadership and became a target in return.
All of this has been documented in the Netflix series Full Swing, which began four years ago just when LIV Golf began. The timing was purely coincidental, but beyond just telling the story of the politics of the two rival golf leagues the series has also portrayed the human side of the sport. This year in one episode of Season 3, it includes the narrative of McIlroy filing for divorce from his wife, Erica, in May 2024, his epic collapse finishing second a month later in the U.S. Open, and his subsequent reconciliation with his wife. He talked about the media’s revelation of his filing for divorce and how he was almost relieved that news of the arrest of Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1), who later had the charges withdrawn, on the second day of the PGA Championship shifted the media focus.
With Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour B X) essentially pushed to the side of competition because of numerous injuries, Netflix has made McIlroy its primary personality. Beyond just his stated opinions on the world of golf and talking about his marriage, the series has focused on McIlroy’s play. He has gone through some interesting swings, no pun intended, but it appears he has finally reached a calm place on and off the course. This became apparent in the 2025 Masters, when his play resembled a teetertotter of incredible shot making and some unforced errors. In all he made four double bogeys, hardly a recipe for success, but in the end all he needed was one more chance to make good, and the golf gods afforded him that opportunity with a four-foot putt in one playoff hole to etch his name in history.
It came a year after two short missed putts in the final three holes that cost him the win in the 2024 U.S. Open. Bryson DeChambeau (Bridgestone Tour B X) won it with a par putt on the 18th hole, which was proceeded by a pitch shot for the ages from the sand trap. The experience was so painful McIlroy didn’t even bother to stick around, which Netflix showed.
So there he was last week, 11 years since his last major, beginning the Masters against DeChambeau, who seemed as if he had the positive juju sinking a long birdie putt on the final hole of the third round and beginning only two shots back in second place. DeChambeau was flashing a 100 watt lightbulb smile on route to the first tee, high-fiving and fist-bumping patrons. McIlroy was not as engaging, clearly focused on the task at hand.
After a double bogey by McIlroy on the first hole, DeChambeau parred, tying the two. Just like that, the final round became even more dramatic. While McIlroy made some misses, including booting away victory with a bogey on the 18th hole to send him into a playoff with Justin Rose (Titleist Pro V1x), DeChambeau frittered away any chance of winning. He did a TV interview, trying to make sense of his worst round of the tournament, three-over par.
While Rose had the lead after the first round, he seemed to disappear after that. And yet the classy Englishman rebounded with a six-under par in the final round to give himself a shot at winning the Masters. He missed with his final putt, giving McIlroy the opportunity to win with his putt. Sublime is the only word I can used to describe the ending.
As I said in my last blog, the mantle of greatness has passed from Woods to McIlroy. I think of the line from the song American Pie, “While the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown.”
Woods is 49, months away from joining the Champions Tour, though a combination of injuries and the likelihood he wouldn’t want to play on the seniors tour means we might never see him play competitively again. That said, I’m sure his dream is to play in a PGA Tour event with his son, Charlie, who is 16.
McIlroy turns 36 on May 4, and it could be said he has turned back the clock, playing as well as ever. He has three wins in six starts this year, the victories coming in the AT&T Pebble Beach Open, The Players Championship, which is a de facto major, and Masters. He is doing so in a year in which Scheffler and Xander Schauffele (Callaway Chrome Tour) are battling back from off-season hand injuries. It’s worth noting that McIlroy’s suggestion that Scheffler switch to a mallet putter from a blade putter helped him to become the top player in the world the last two years. He is slightly off his game now, and you could see the dejection in his body language awarding McIlroy a green jacket. That is the Masters tradition, the reigning champion putting the green jacket on the new winner. Scheffler finished in fourth, but was clearly scuffling, so you could understand his dejection. Personally I find the tradition awkward.
For McIlroy, his turnaround is the product of putting in the time to concentrate on his game rather than on the politics of the game. Many of McIlroy’s contemporaries have been idling – Jordan Spieth (Titleist Pro V1x), Justin Thomas (Titleist Pro V1x), Patrick Cantlay (Titleist Pro V1x) and other 30-somethings – their resumes flush with accomplishments from their 20s. Some players excel coming out of university because they are hungry and single, their lives consumed by the game. Once marriage and family come into play, they seem to lack that burning desire.
Brad Faxon, who has helped McIlroy with his putting, articulated on The Golf Channel on Sunday night about some subtle changes Rory has made. Faxon was clearly moved by what McIlroy had accomplished.
So the fact McIlroy can play this well at this point in his life says something about his commitment and drive. He said he accomplished his dream winning the Masters and any young boy or girl can achieve theirs if they work hard. With Woods gone from the game with no apparent date for his return, McIlroy is the player young golfers or any young person for that matter can look up to as a source for how to accomplish your dreams. He said that to his daughter, Poppy, who turns five in August and may be too young to fully appreciate her father’s advice, but it will be a moment in time that she will always have to fully absorb.
This was a memorable Masters, more so than in past years, with enough drama that can be quilted together to develop into a movie. Maybe Netflix will do it.
