One of sport’s greatest final-day battles ends with McIlroy’s name in lights

There were always going to be tears for Rory McIlroy.

Throughout a topsy-turvy final Masters round that would make for a thrilling Hollywood blockbuster and that bore more than a passing resemblance to his career as a whole, tears were the only certainty.

The only question was, what sort were they going to be?

This was a man who had been trying for a decade to win another major.

The 11-year gap since McIlroy last won a major, at the 2014 Open, is the joint most of all time.

The most time it had taken any of the previous five men to have won golf’s grand slam to complete the set was three years.

“This is my 17th time here,” McIlroy said inside the opulent staged surrounds of Augusta’s Butler Cabin.

He need wonder no more.

As soon as he sunk his historic putt on the 18th green, the tears started to flow.

As soon as the crowd roared, his putter landing somewhere behind him on this perfectly manicured greens of Augusta National — turf he was steadily sinking towards as the noise rippled and roared around him — those tears were inevitable.

And why wouldn’t he cry?

Major wins are rarely run of the mill.

All are special in their own way.

But there was something more than just a little bit special about this.

Not for the skills.

McIlroy’s final round was a long way from being brilliant, featuring two double bogeys, carding a one-over 73 for his final score.

All the while Justin Rose was surging, his 66 coming off the back of 10 birdies that dragged him from seven shots down to within a play-off putt of victory.

One has to feel for Rose.

Nobody would have begrudged the Englishman the bad guy role in this: The 2013 US Open winner finished as runner-up in a major for the fifth time in his career. The third time at Augusta.

And for a while he must have felt it was his to lose.

But in these instances, it’s not always about the brilliance.

It’s not even about the luck.

It’s all about the contest.

The battle between the two Ryder Cup teammates could be distilled into something akin to a modern masterpiece of sport, its flawed brilliance merely adding to its potency.

Rose described the moment as a “historic” one for golf, and that it was “pretty cool to be able to share that moment with him” as the pair embraced on the play-off green.

There were times when McIlroy rode his luck, a couple of close encounters with fairway trees on the front nine that somehow turned out alright, coupled with a minor miracle on the 11th that saw the ball miss going in the drink by less than half a foot.

But then there was the brilliance.

The curling approach shot on the 15th that had everyone on their feet and McIlroy with a chance at an eagle to possibly make the tournament safe.

That was matched only by his approach to the 17th, McIlroy muttering “go, go, go” at the ball as it clipped the edge of the green and rolled to within a couple of feet of the flag.

These moments had the crowd roaring, chanting McIlroy’s name.

It was those moments that had members of the Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland alternately clawing at their faces and standing to roar their approval.

But the moments that really mattered? The ones that really made the difference between winning and losing?

They were all down to McIlroy’s grit.

“When I hit the wedge shot into the creek on 13 I felt I did a good job of bouncing back,” McIlroy said of the moment when it looked as though the demons of 2011, when he surrendered a handy lead on the back nine of this very course, were going to overwhelm him.

“The double bogey at the first,” he added.

“I was really nervous going out. It was almost as if the double bogey calmed my nerves a little bit and got me into it.”

That’s how it appeared too.

Despite that early setback and the close calls immediately after, McIlroy was still smiling, joking with his caddy and seemingly at ease with how things were turning out.

The enormity of his error on 13 did seem to set him back a fraction, as did the missed putts that could have allowed him an earlier lead and even the win on 18.

Then there were emotions. The face locked in a grimace, a nervous look down at his feet.

Perhaps the fact that Bryson DeChambeau, who had overhauled him at Pinehurst during last year’s US Open, coming from two shots back with five holes to go to claim the crown for himself, was nowhere to be seen helped McIlroy resettle.

DeChambeau had taken a joint lead on the first hole and the outright lead on the second before McIlroy fought back, one of three lead changes over the course of the day as Rose and Ludvig Åberg all challenged at the top.

But McIlroy, who led by two shots, then four shots, and then by a single shot over the course of the round, only to be pegged back each time, responded superbly.

“All week I responded to setbacks and that’s what I’ll remember,” McIlroy said.

“I’m so proud of that and being able to bounce back.”

Coupled with the long drought, there has been golf’s incestuous war between the PGA and LIV, a war that has cooled in intensity and is seemingly not far from being resolved.

But McIlroy has been the face of that battle. The symbol of the establishment. The status quo.

For a man who hadn’t won a major in 10 years or more, that’s some burden to bear, particularly given the tailing off of golf’s Messiah, Tiger Woods.

It’s a burden his family have been well aware of.

“They’ve been on this journey with me the whole way through,” McIlroy said.

“They know the burden I have carried to come here every year and try, try and try again.

“The one thing I would say to my daughter Poppy is never, ever give up on your dream.

“Keep coming back, keep working hard and if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. Love you.”

So no wonder there were tears.

“I would say it was 14 years in the making,” McIlroy said.

“Going out with a four-shot lead in 2011 and feeling like I could have got it done there.

“A lot of pent-up emotion came out on the 18th green.

“A moment like that makes all the years and all the close calls worth it.”

Perhaps it would be fitting to leave the final word to one of the other men in golf’s most exclusive club, Gary Player.

“The drama of today capped off with his play-off victory was simply meant to be,” Player wrote on X.

“This is one of the rarest and most difficult achievements in all of sport, something only now six golfers in history have ever accomplished.

“We are proud to add Rory to our exclusive club and no doubt he has set the standard for his era.

“It was 11 years ago when Rory first started the final leg of his career Grand Slam journey. And throughout this time, he’s carried himself with class, led with principle, and played with passion.

“For him to finally don the Green Jacket in golf is a moment to be celebrated by fans around the world. Rory has made his mark on history, and all of us who love this game are incredibly proud.

“Well done, my friend. Welcome to our club.”

Welcome to the club Rory. And thanks for taking us all with you on this crazy ride.

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