AUGUSTA, Ga. — As Rory McIlroy fell to his knees on the 18th green at Augusta National after holing his playoff-winning birdie putt to win the 2025 Masters, he felt just one emotion.
“It was all relief. There wasn’t much joy in that reaction. It was all relief,” McIlroy said with a laugh in his press conference. “And then the joy came pretty soon after that. I’ve been coming here 17 years, and it was a decade-plus of emotion that came out of me there.”
Relief, or freedom from the expectations that have hampered his ability to reach his potential—until today. That potential has never been lost on greats like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson, who on Thursday morning, after serving as honorary starters for the 89th edition of the tournament were each asked who they thought would win this week.
All three said McIlroy without hesitation.
Player went first. “I think Rory McIlroy will win the Masters this year, and I hope he does because it would give golf a great boost to have another winner of the Grand Slam,” said the 89-year-old Player, who is one of five players whom McIlroy joined as winners of the career Grand Slam. “He has the best swing in golf without a question.”
Watson was next. “I just have a gut feeling that Rory is the guy that’s going to win this week,” said the eight-time major champions. “That’s the bottom line. That’s my gut feeling.”
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And finally, Nicklaus, who has been McIlroy’s biggest advocate through the years, long telling everyone of the Northern Irishman’s potential. “Well, ditto. OK, move on. I think the same as you two guys. I think it’s about time that Rory won.”
What do you feel when three men who, to that point, had accomplished more in the game than you have, have such flattering opinions of you?
“They are getting old,” McIlroy said with an anxious laugh on Friday when asked how he felt about their Thursday predictions. It was a clever deflection, yes, but also a tacit nod to his frustration with the constant expectation leaped upon him not just by the media, but by the all-time greats of the game.
Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player with their caddies during the honorary starters ceremony to kick off the 2025 Masters.
Ben Walton
On Sunday night, as McIlroy talked to the media after becoming the sixth man to win the career Grand Slam, it was that relief that was still palpable an hour after that final putt fell. He was asked again about their comments earlier in the week, and having successfully delivered on their prophecy, engaged far more than he had on Friday.
“It’s tough. You’ve had Jack, Gary, Tom, Tiger, you name it, come through here, and all say that I’ll win the Masters one day. That’s a hard load to carry. It is. It really is,” McIlroy said. Not once, but three times reiterating how difficult that weight has been for the 11 years since he first had the opportunity to win at Augusta National to win all four majors.
“These are idols of mine, and look, it’s very flattering that they all come up here and they believe in me, and they believe in my abilities to be able to win this tournament and achieve the Grand Slam and all that, but it doesn’t help, you know?” he said with a laugh. “I wish they didn’t say it.”
McIlroy wishes they didn’t say it, and he wishes the entire golf world didn’t say it. But they did, and we did. Why? Because McIlroy’s destiny to become something so much more than what he was had been clear every day for those 11 years. How much more—the greatest player of the modern era, the greatest European ever, a top-five player of all time, etc.—that’s beside the point. Whatever his potential was, he wasn’t there yet—far from it. Jack, Gary and Tom knew. We know. Rory knew.
But as it happened, McIlroy dealt with those expectations, just as he dealt with the near constant adversity on Sunday at Augusta National. And for that, he has relieved himself of the burden that all of golf has placed upon him. That is, until the new, inevitable prediction of his potential comes along. But for now, McIlroy has his green jacket, and he has his relief.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
