Rory McIlroy wins the Masters and joins the gods in the grand slam club

He did it. Rory McIlroy won the 2025 Masters and became the sixth player in golf history to win all four major championships.

The Northern Irishman beat Justin Rose in a playoff at Augusta National to win his fifth major and first in 11 years. He joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the next player to complete the major grand slam.

McIlroy missed a putt on the 18th hole in regulation play to seal the deal, and entered a playoff with the Englishman Rose, who shot a stunning 66 on the day to force extra holes – with the pair tied on 11-under.

After a missed birdie putt from Rose, McIlroy made no mistake with his shorter effort. He sunk to his knees, pounded the floor and released emotion from every corner of his body.

“I think I’ve carried that burden since August 2014. It’s nearly 11 years,” McIlroy said in his winner’s press conference, sat between portraits of Masters co-founders Cliff Roberts and Bobby Jones, in a Green Jacket of his own.

“And not just about winning my next major, but the career Grand Slam. You know, trying to join a group of five players to do it, watching a lot of my peers get green jackets in the process.”

“It’s been difficult, and I’ve tried to approach this tournament with the most positive attitude each and every time that I’ve shown up, and I think just the sort of cumulative experience that I’ve gained coming back here each and every year, I just I feel like I get a little more comfortable with the shot needed. I talked about it at the start of the week, but you know, there’s talking about it and actually doing it.”

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“Today was difficult. I was unbelievably nervous this morning. Really nervous on the first hole, as you witnessed with the double, but as I said, that calmed me down and I was able to bounce back and show that resilience that I’ve talked about a lot.”

“It was a heavy weight to carry, and thankfully now I don’t have to carry it and it frees me up and I know I’m coming back here every year, which is lovely.”

After suffering heartbreak at the 2024 US Open at the hands of final-group partner Bryson DeChambeau, McIlroy won the Masters on his 17th attempt. It is the second time Rose has lost in a playoff down Magnolia Lane, also losing to Sergio Garcia in 2017 in the same manner.

Rory McIlroy grand slam is complete

The final round was billed as a showdown between McIlroy and DeChambeau. He even took a one-shot lead over McIlroy after two holes after McIlroy made the first of two final-round double bogeys on the 1st hole.

But the American played Amen Corner in 3-over to drop out. McIlroy had a four-shot lead over Rose in the 13th fairway on 13-under, but he inexplicably made a double-bogey to come back to the field. Ludvig Aberg also birdied the 14th hole to reach 10-under.

Having negotiated the 12th hole sensibly, McIlroy laid up on 13, but a shocking approach bounced into Rae’s Creek. The patrons were horrified, and shockwaves reverberated around the golf course as Rose led on 11-under with a birdie on 16, within seconds of another McIlroy bogey on 14. McIlroy even peered up at the leaderboard as he did many times on the back nine.

Rose gave one back to the National on 17, and McIlroy’s approach to the par-5 15th was cheered on the ground like it went in. A birdie here and one on the 17th hole meant a par on the 18th would’ve done it in regular time.

McIlroy had swivelled his head to the leaderboard while stood on the 16th green as Rose moved to 11-under with his 10th birdie of the day on 18. The crowd on the course gasped as the white leaderboard ticked Rose’s score over.

Fast-forwarding to 18, McIlroy found the bunker with his approach and, despite the crowd under the oak tree short of the green thinking it was done, it was not. McIlroy missed a five-footer and tapped in for bogey, and we needed extra holes.

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Rory and Rose, once a Ryder Cup partnership, both found the fairway on 18 on playoff hole one in sudden-death conditions, and Rose missed his birdie putt of about 20 feet after stalking it for an eternity. McIlroy tapped in from three feet then celebrated with his caddie Harry Diamond, often the one targeted for his previous major disappointments. McIlroy could barely speak when talking of his friend Harry in his winner’s press conference.

“I’ve known Harry since I was seven years old. I met him on the putting green at Holywood Golf Club. We’ve had so many good times together. He’s been like a big brother to me the whole way through my life (tearing up),” he said.

“To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we’ve had, all the crap that he’s had to take from people that don’t know anything about the game, yeah, this one is just as much his as it is mine.

“He’s a massive part of what I do, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to share it with than him.”

All of the demons have been dispelled, even beyond Augusta, too. Losing the 2011 Masters having entered the final round with a four-shot lead, losing the 2022 Open at St Andrews to Cameron Smith, losing the 2023 US Open to Wyndham Clark in LA and then there was Bryson at Pinehurst 10 months ago.

Social media is littered with images of McIlroy chipping balls into a washing machine as an infant. He was an outstanding amateur and won four majors in three years between 2011 and 2014. There was no logic as to why it took over a decade for major number five to come.

He now shares a spot as a five-time major champion with James Braid, JH Taylor, Byron Nelson, Peter Thomson, Seve Ballesteros and his contemporary Brooks Koepka – a man he was conscious had overtaken him in his major haul in the same generation.

A huge mention must go to the remarkable Rose. He began the day seven shots behind McIlroy with little-to-no hope in the patron’s eyes, but not his. He turned nine holes on 2-under to reach 7-under on the day, then four more birdies on the back nine proved he could still win another major after his 2013 US Open triumph. He will surely be set for a seventh start for Team Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup.

Final leaderboard (Score they started Sunday on, P – Playoff win)

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