The 2025 Masters Tournament was nothing short of a thriller. It is the tournament where the eyes of every golf fan fall on Augusta National Golf Club. The winner receives the ultimate prize – the coveted green jacket. Every year, tens of thousands of patrons enter the venue eager to see the best golfers in the world compete for their name to go down in history as a Masters champion. This year was no exception.
English golfer Justin Rose performed incredibly in the first round and shot 7-under par and entered Friday leading by 3 strokes over Ludvig Åberg, Corey Connors and reigning champion Scottie Scheffler. Rose would shoot -1 on Friday, as LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau, who sat four shots back entering the day, shot 4-under and got to within one shot of Justin Rose. Rory McIlroy, who shot even-par on Thursday, caught fire, shooting -6 and found himself tied with Connors in third place entering the weekend.
The field was trimmed down to 53 players after 42 failed to make the cut after Friday’s round, including former Masters champions Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Fred Couples and 67-year-old Bernhard Langer, a two-time champion who missed the cut by just one stroke in his final Masters appearance.
Round three began with Justin Rose leading at -8, leading DeChambeau by one stroke. However, McIlroy replicated his incredible second round, shooting -6 again to take a two-shot lead over DeChambeau at -12, as Justin Rose shot +3 to fall back to 5-under-par for the tournament. 2007 Masters champion and St. Simons Island resident Zach Johnson matched McIlroy’s performance, reaching the top-10. DeChambeau shot 3-under climbing into second place, right behind McIlroy at -10, meaning the two would be paired together for the final round.
And then Sunday at the Masters rolled around, known as the most anticipated day in golf. McIlroy’s history of close calls at Augusta brought even more interest to the tournament. The stakes are high, as the top 12 finishers all receive invites to the 2026 Masters. Entering with a two-shot lead (the first time he entered the final round of a Major with the lead since 2014), McIlroy wasted no time losing it, getting a double bogey on the first hole. DeChambeau birdied the second hole, taking a one shot lead, but McIlroy immediately answered with back-to-back birdies at 3 and 4, while DeChambeau bogeyed both. After a series of consecutive pars, McIlroy birdied 9 and 10, taking a commanding 4-shot lead after DeChambeau double-bogeyed after hitting into the water at 11, the first hole of the series of iconic holes known as “Amen Corner”.
Meanwhile, multiple groups ahead of McIlroy and DeChambeau, Justin Rose had five birdies in a span of seven holes, getting to within 3 shots of McIlroy. At the par 5 13th hole, McIlroy attempted to play it safely, laying up his second shot to 82 yards away from the pin. However, a misplay of his third shot found the creek in front of the green, leading to a horrendous double bogey, leaving fans wondering if we would see another collapse from McIlroy. He would go on to bogey the 14th, as Åberg quietly caught back up. There would be a three-way tie for first place at -10 between McIlroy, Rose and Åberg with just five holes to play. McIlroy’s tee shot at the par 5 15th went a little left, leading to a difficult shot to the green behind some low-hanging trees. He responded with perhaps the most incredible shot of the tournament, hooking his seven-iron under and around the trees and with enough backspin to place himself within six feet of the pin. He would miss the eagle putt but still made a birdie, as Justin Rose would birdie the 16th to take the lead, but then bogey the 17th to once again tie McIlroy. Åberg would triple bogey 17, taking him out of contention. With immense pressure on Rose, he would drain an incredible birdie putt on the 18th to put himself at -11, and McIlroy would match with a birdie at 16 to tie Rose with two holes left. On the 17th, McIlroy’s approach shot was almost perfect, hitting it to within 3 feet and he made the birdie putt to take a one stroke lead with one hole left.
Only needing a par on the 18th to win, McIlroy’s approach shot would find the bunker to the right of the green. Despite his bunker shot getting within five feet, he missed the par putt. His unfortunate two-putt for bogey meant he and Rose would head to a sudden death playoff.
The 18th hole would be the first playoff hole, as Rose and McIlroy both had perfect drives. Rose’s approach shot landed slightly past the hole at the front of the green, but if it had gone a little bit further, it would have rolled back closer to the hole. Rose would have a birdie putt of about 15-20 feet. McIlroy could attempt to either land it close enough to the hole or land at the slope that Rose had just barely missed, and McIlroy chose the latter. His approach found the slope and rolled to within three feet of the pin. Rose’s birdie putt slightly missed to the left, leaving the door wide open for McIlroy.
McIlroy stood over his ball, with the entire world watching. And this time, the ball disappeared into the cup, leading to an unforgettable roar from the crowd and McIlroy threw his putter up into the air. He fell to his knees, overcome with emotion. His caddie, childhood best friend and best man at his wedding, Harry Diamond, embraced each other as Justin Rose waited by his side to congratulate him.
“I just said, listen, this is a historic moment in golf, isn’t it, someone who achieves the career Grand Slam,” Rose said after his defeat. “I just said it was pretty cool to be able to share that moment with him. Obviously, I wanted to be the bad guy today, but still, it’s a momentous occasion for the game of golf.”
McIlroy made his way to his wife, Erica, and his daughter, Poppy, as they shared a long embrace as McIlroy continued to let his emotions out.
After several close calls and late-tournament collapses, the wait for McIlroy is over. McIlroy has completed golf’s most illustrious accomplishment – a career Grand Slam – a feat only achieved by five other golfers.
“Welcome to the club! Completing the grand slam at Augusta is something special. Your determination during this round and this entire journey has shown through, and now you’re a part of history. Proud of you!” – 5x Masters Champion and career Grand Slam winner Tiger Woods on X
The Grand Slam consists of winning each of the four Majors over a career, including The Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. McIlroy capped off this feat with this win at Augusta National Golf Club, winning the green jacket for the first time. McIlroy joins Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to ever accomplish the feat.
McIlroy took the golf world by storm in 2011, winning his first Major as a 22-year-old at the U.S. Open. The following year, he would enter the turn for the back nine at Augusta with a three-shot lead, and an errant tee shot led to a triple bogey at the 10th hole. He followed that with a bogey at the 11th and a four-putt at the 12th, leading to a final round of +8 and one of the worst collapses in golf history. McIlroy would go on to win the PGA Championship later that year for his second Major win. He would still finish in the top-10 at Augusta in 2014 and 2015. In 2018, he entered the final round in second place, but shot +2 and finished six shots back. In 2022, he had the best Masters performance of his career, shooting 7-under par, but still three shots behind the Scheffler. He would miss the cut in 2023 and in 2024, he would make the cut, but he still was not sharp. For the past 11 years, McIlroy had been eyeing a Masters win, and just could not get it done, despite being close multiple times. That frustration and weight was finally taken off of his shoulders when that putt went in.
“I would say it was 14 years in the making, from going out with a four-shot lead in 2011, feeling like I could have gotten it done there,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, there was a lot of pent-up emotion that just came out on that 18th green. A moment like that makes all the years and all the close calls worth it.”
