Rory McIlroy unique: Grand Slam glory, successful The Masters and why 2025 was the ‘greatest yr’ of his {golfing} profession

Rory McIlroy has admitted he feared he might by no means win The Masters earlier than he accomplished the profession Grand Slam in the course of the ‘greatest yr’ of his {golfing} profession.

McIlroy turned simply the sixth male golfer in historical past and first European to finish the Grand Slam along with his dramatic victory at Augusta Nationwide in April, the place he beat Justin Rose in a play-off to finish an 11-year look ahead to his fifth main title.

The world No 2 skilled 21 top-10 majors with out victory between his 2014 PGA Championship success to securing the Inexperienced Jacket, together with six at The Masters, with McIlroy below scrutiny after a number of near-misses in earlier makes an attempt.

McIlroy had did not convert a four-shot lead on the ultimate day of the 2011 Masters and slipped away on the Sunday of the 2018 contest, having been within the ultimate group alongside Patrick Reed, earlier than his 2025 victory noticed him change into the primary participant since Tiger Woods to hitch the Grand Slam membership.

“Yeah, I did doubt that moment would ever happen,” McIlroy advised Sky Sports activities forward of ‘McIlroy ’25: A Profession Yr’, a brand new documentary launched this month. “I felt like I would had a great deal of possibilities earlier than.

“I ended up successful The Masters at 35 however I had an opportunity once I was 21. I additionally had an opportunity once I was 28. I’ve had a couple of extra possibilities in between, and as your profession goes on, you already know, you’re feeling like that window is closing.

“Going into that Sunday I’d say, ‘may this be my ultimate likelihood? Might this be the one?’ I feel with the best way all of it performed out, Bryson within the ultimate group and simply after Pinehurst in 2024 [US Open], there was quite a bit driving on that day.

“So yeah, I had my doubts before that, but I had to sort of put that all in the back of my mind, just go out and try to play a good round of golf, which I don’t feel like I did. I did in parts, but I didn’t in others.”

McIlroy took a two-shot benefit right into a roller-coaster Sunday, the place he briefly moved 4 forward till following a bogey on the eleventh by making a double-bogey on the par-five thirteenth after discovering water.

One other dropped shot on the subsequent was cancelled out by birdies on the fifteenth and seventeenth, earlier than McIlroy cancelled out bogeying the 72nd gap by making a close-range birdie on the primary play-off gap to spark emotional celebrations.

“The reaction was years of going there and trying and failing but it was also all the years before that, when I would sit down in my family room with my dad in Holywood,” McIlroy defined.

“We would watch The Masters as a boy and a father and just think about playing that tournament one day. Then all of a sudden, from playing it to trying to win it, and then to have that moment.

“I bear in mind being with Harry [Diamond, caddie] in 2005 when Tiger [Woods] chipped in on 16 in opposition to Chris DiMarco, and we watched that collectively. I’ve that response, I arise, I flip round, and who’s the primary individual I see? It is Harry.

“The only thing I can think about is just how lucky I was that it happened the way it did, because I don’t think there’s a lot of other people in golf or in that’ll have the moment or the feeling that I had on that 18th green at Augusta that Sunday.”

Why McIlroy’s 2025 means greater than 2014 majors

Masters glory was a part of a outstanding 2025 for McIlroy, who additionally received the AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am and The Gamers on the PGA Tour earlier than claiming an epic play-off victory on the DP World Tour’s Amgen Irish Open.

The Northern Irishman was a key a part of Europe’s historic Ryder Cup success at Bethpage Black, contributing 3.5 factors throughout their 15-13 away victory over Workforce USA, two years on from predicting a historic win on American soil throughout their 2023 winner’s press convention.

“I think I always believed it [The Masters and Ryder Cup double] was possible – I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it was,” McIlroy defined. “You’ve got obtained all these objectives and these hopes and these desires, everytime you flip the web page to a brand new calendar yr.

“I felt like I was coming off the back of a really good end to 2024 and felt like I could ride that momentum into the start of 2025. I started the year great and I got confidence early, then I pretty much just roped that confidence all the way through.”

McIlroy ended the marketing campaign by securing the DP World Tour’s season-long Race to Dubai title for a seventh time, with the 36-year-old pleased with his 2025 achievements.

“I could maybe say that I won more majors in 2014, but I feel this year to me [is best] because of the things that I felt like I had left to achieve in my career – to be able to win The Masters, to win an away Ryder Cup, to win my National Open,” McIlroy insisted.

“If I’m just looking for big moments, if that’s what the rest of my career is for the next 10 years, these big moments dotted throughout, you can’t get three bigger moments than the ones that I’ve had this year.

“Due to that, it is the most effective yr that I’ve ever had.”

Watch ‘McIlroy ’25: A Career Year’, a new documentary reflecting on his historic 2025, this Christmas on Sky Sports. The show will premiere at 9pm on Tuesday on Sky Sports Golf and be repeated throughout the festive period. Get Sky Sports activities or stream with no contract on NOW.