Weekly PGA Recap: Rory's Original Grand Slam

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

To tell the story of Sunday at the Masters to someone who didn't watch it would not be easy.

There were so many plot twists and turns – or, in Augusta vernacular, undulations -- it might take as long as it played out in real time. Actually, to tell the full story might take a lot longer.

For 17 years, Rory McIlroy chased a Masters title. For 11 years, he chased a fifth golf major and the sport's holy grail: the career grand slam. Actually, as McIlroy noted in the joyous and emotional ceremony after he had finally -- finally -- achieved all those goals, he'd been chasing those dreams his entire life.

In one of the most surreal, riveting, exhausting, exhilarating, agonizing – we could go on and on – sporting events any of us will ever see, McIlroy rode a rollercoaster of highs and lows for nearly five hours all around Augusta National Golf Club before finally defeating a gallant Justin Rose on the first playoff hole to capture the 89th Masters.

Upon finally sinking a three-foot birdie putt on No. 18, with the weight of the world and history at long last off his shoulders, McIlroy sunk to his knees. He clutched his head and buried it into the lightning fast bentgrass green – one of the 18 that had caused him so much grief and heartache over the years.

"It was all relief," said McIlroy when asked why he did what he did, "there wasn't much joy in that. .. A decade-plus of emotions."

The "burden" of enduring so many heart-wrenching close calls, as the 35-year-old McIlroy noted, had been lifted.

With his first major title since winning the 2014 PGA Championship, McIlroy became the sixth man to capture the career grand slam – the Masters, PGA, U.S. Open and Open Championship. Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Gary Player all took far less time than McIlroy needed. 

Probably because the longer it takes, the harder and more elusive it becomes.

The day began as Rory McIlroy vs. Bryson DeChambeau. But really, McIlroy said afterward, "my battle today was with myself."

He held a two-stroke lead over playing partner DeChambeau in their first encounter since last year's U.S. Open, which was won by DeChambeau and became the latest/umpteenth disaster in McIlroy's major career. After a double bogey on No. 1 on Sunday, the lead was gone. After a birdie on No. 2, DeChambeau had the solo lead and all signs pointed toward an extended funeral march for McIlroy.

Disaster yet again.

How many punches to the gut could one man take?

Apparently, more.

Everything changed, somehow, with McIlroy birdies on Nos. 3 and 4. By the back nine, his lead had crazily ballooned to four strokes. It appeared, at long last, the green jacket would be his. DeChambeau was fading from contention. Now Rose and Ludvig Aberg were McIlroy's primary adversaries. You know, other than himself.

Across a span of about 90 minutes on the second nine, there were incredible swings and fluctuations. McIlroy is gonna win! No, he's gonna lose! Win, lose, win, lose! He hit amazing shots but also disastrous ones, such as finding in the water on No. 13 for a double bogey. He lost all of that four-shot lead.

Everyone talking on TV after the Masters kept using the same word: rollercoaster. McIlroy said it too. Don't forget about another word: resilient.

When McIlroy arrived on 18, he had the solo lead again, after a birdie on 17. All he needed was par. He put his drive in the fairway. But his short approach inexplicably found the greenside bunker and then he pushed a 5-footer for par. 

How many punches to the gut could one man take, even if they are self-administered?

The playoff was over quickly. Drive into the fairway, approach to 3 feet, birdie putt in the cup. Just like that, the 11-year odyssey or 17 years or 35 years or however long it was, was over.

See how easy McIlroy can make things?

Nineteen of the previous winners had been in the top-10 after Thursday. McIlroy wasn't. Nobody had ever won the Masters while making four double bogeys. He made four doubles.

See how hard McIlroy can make things?

He also made 30 3s. Imagine doing that at Augusta? Nobody had ever done that before.

Okay, so where do we go from here? First of all, McIlroy is still No. 2 in the world to Scottie Scheffler, and by a decent margin. Even though he's won Pebble Beach, THE PLAYERS and now the Masters this season, he'd have to win next month's PGA Championship to get close. Good thing the PGA is at Quail Hollow, one of McIlroy's go-to tracks where he's won four times.

Could the major floodgates open now, with Quail Hollow and then later this summer the Open Championship at Royal Portrush back home in Ireland?

More immediately, McIlroy will skip next week's RBC Heritage Signature Event -- he was not in the field even before winning on Sunday -- but will return the following week to defend his Zurich Classic title with great friend Shane Lowry.

And what looms for McIlroy next year at the Masters? (Besides the Champion's Dinner.) Year after year, McIlroy was the top storyline coming in: Will you finally win it? As he opened his post-victory media session, McIlroy jokingly asked reporters: "What are we all gonna talk about next year?"

Oh don't you worry, Rory, reporters will be ready. They surely will ask you whether you can win again! As in: Can McIlroy be the first back-to-back Masters winner since Woods in 2002. It's always about McIlroy, the most dynamic man in the sport and clearly the best player of his generation, of the post Tiger Era.

Toward the end of McIlroy's media session, another reporter asked him where this day ranked in his life.

"I'm not gonna compare it to life moments – a marriage, the birth of a child," McIlroy said. He then paused. "But it's the best day of my golfing life."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Justin Rose
Rose may now take over the mantle from McIlroy as the player most deserving of a Masters title. He led after the first two rounds. He's led more rounds at the Masters than anyone who's never won. He lost in the previous Masters playoff, in 2017 to Sergio Garcia. A few years ago, it looked like Rose might have played his final Masters. But then in 2023 he won Pebble Beach, kick-starting a second act to his career. Rose was just third behind McIlroy at Pebble in February. He's now 44 years old and up to No. 12 in the world, his highest position since early 2020. It now looks like he'll be on the Ryder Cup team this fall. We see so many guys who have played the Masters well continue to do so as they get older, because experience trumps all at Augusta. Rose is one of those guys.

Patrick Reed
Despite being a shorter hitter, the 2018 champ comes back year after year and delivers. This time, Reed finished solo third. He's had top-10s in four of the past six years. He likely won't be a factor in any of the other majors – he hasn't since he's left for LIV.

Scottie Scheffler
You could see that Scheffler simply was not at his best. And yet he finished solo fourth. Ironically, it was his longer clubs that hurt him. He ranked top-10 in the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and SG: Putting, according to datagolf.com (all strokes-gained stats below courtesy of Data Golf). Despite being winless in 2025, Scheffler has finished second, third and now fourth.

Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau arrived at the first tee like he was entering a boxing ring. And two holes into the final round, he had McIlroy on the ropes. But it was more about McIlroy's poor start than DeChambeau's good play. He wound up ranking 51st in SG: Approach, and that won't cut it anywhere, much less Augusta. DeChambeau ended up in a tie for fifth after a 3-over 75. All that said, he has top-10s the past two years at the Masters and clearly is learning how to play there. His best majors will be the longer ones – the PGA and U.S. Open – so look out in May and June.

Sungjae Im
Im quietly snuck up the leaderboard on Sunday to tie for fifth. It's his third Masters top-10. He's well suited to Augusta or even an Open Championship, but the two longer majors are not good fits for his game.

Ludvig Aberg
Until finishing bogey-triple bogey, Aberg was right there. For the second straight year. It's clear he's a top-5 player and his first major is coming soon.

Corey Conners
Conners' fine play in 2025 and fine play at the Masters continued. He began Sunday in the penultimate pairing. He was in contention until playing the second nine in 3-over. He ended in a tie for eighth, his fourth top-10 at the Masters. At the heart of his improved play this season is putting.

Jason Day
Day had another good Masters. He tied for eighth. He had a bunch of good Augusta finishes early in his career but not lately. Now he ensured himself he'll be back next year no matter what – the top-12 and ties get return invites. It has not been a great year for Day, so it's hard to gauge where this leaves him the rest of 2025.

Xander Schauffele
We're betting a lot of people didn't realize that Schauffele tied for eighth. He was never in contention and got very little TV time. He just does everything at least very well, which is how he played the Masters, which bodes well for the rest of the season as he rounds into form from an early-season rib injury.

Zach Johnson
By the time next year's Masters arrives, Johnson will be eligible for the Champions Tour. The 2007 champion tied for eighth. We see time after time that as some former champs have gotten old(er), they can still play well at the Masters. Others who made the cut include Bubba Watson (T14), Charl Schwartzel (T36) and Danny Willett (T42).

Max Homa
Homa's tie for 12th came out of the blue. His season has been a disaster. He just parted ways with his caddie. While it may appear that Homa is now back to being Homa, let's pump the brakes. His big issue has been driver, and at Augusta he ranked 41st in SG: Off-the-Tee. He also ranked fourth in SG: Putting. That won't happen every week. We'd like to see the OTT numbers improve before rendering a decision on Homa.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth has now alternated good years and bad at the Masters for six years. He tied for 14th. He was great with his driver and putter but not so much with the other clubs. He's slowly inching his way up the OWGR list, now 58th, but the magic does not appear to be back, even after offseason wrist surgery.

Jon Rahm
Once again, Rahm was a non-factor. He tied for 14th, which looks pretty good. But he opened with a 75 and inched up the rest of the tournament. He hasn't had a good major since leaving for LIV.

Joaquin Niemann
Niemann has won twice on LIV this season and has been their best player, they said. But his major record has been abysmal for a supposed world-class player. He tied for 29th.

MISSED CUTS

Russell Henley, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer. Henley's MC was a real surprise, given how he has played at the Masters in the past and was playing this season. … Koepka shot a quad-8 on his final hole on Friday and hasn't been a factor in a major since winning the 2023 PGA. … Johnson is now on the other side of 40 and hasn't seemed to care much since leaving for LIV. … The talk on LIV was that Garcia was playing great this season. And he was. But at the Masters, he rarely delivers. Since winning in 2017, he's missed the cut every year but one. … Couples and Langer both missed the cut by one. They were great stories for the first two days. Couples will be back but the two-time champion Langer played his 41st and final Masters.