It was a week of incredible shots, with more twists and turns than a season of “White Lotus.” So many “Did you see?” moments. But for me, there is one shot that won Rory McIlroy his long-awaited green jacket.
In March, immediately after his triumph at TPC Sawgrass, I wrote a piece breaking down the evolution of McIlroy’s game—how he has evolved from a player reliant on his prowess off the tee to a new, in his own words, more “complete player.” For years, we’ve seen a steady improvement in his short game, his putting has improved under the tutelage of Brad Faxon and more recently, he’s worked on his approach play.
It all came together at Augusta, and a turbulent final round that ultimately ended in victory. But instead of the 73rd hole he played in the playoff, I’ll remember the 71st hole when his legacy hung in the balance.
The 17th hole at Augusta is arguably the most overlooked hole on the course. Since the Eisenhower Tree was lost in 2014, you could argue the hole lacks some of the beauty and charm of others on the course. But it, like 18, presents a gauntlet-like closing stretch for any player looking to win the green jacket.
For the week, the 17th hole averaged 4.23, making it the fourth-hardest hole. On Sunday, it made the top three, with the average rising to 4.26 thanks to firmer conditions and a front-left pin position that brought a false front into play.
When McIlroy stepped onto the 17th tee on Sunday at 6:19 p.m., his lead, once four shots on the back nine, was gone. He was now tied with Justin Rose, who shortly before had birdied the 18th hole sending a chorus of cheers down the hole to where McIlroy stood.
Playing 440 yards uphill, the play for many was driver. In fact, of the 53 players that teed it up on Sunday, 45 chose driver. Just like Tiger Woods did after taking the lead at the 2019 Masters.
But not McIlroy.
Let’s quickly take a look at the hole and some of the factors that players weigh on the tee shot. As you see in the image below, the fairway narrows significantly. A shot landing 315 yards has 40 percent less fairway width to land in than one landing at 285. Also, a cluster of tall pine trees come into play around 300 yards off the right side of the fairway.
Again, 85 percent of players on Sunday chose to hit driver. Scottie Scheffler, who McIlroy has publicly admired for his game management and decision-making, hit driver on 17 on three out of the four days at Augusta.
Instead, this new “complete” version of McIlroy chose to lean on his approach play and not his driving, and opted for three-wood.
His tee shot leaked a little right, but found the fairway, 248 yards from the tee. One of only two tee shots on the hole all day that went less than 260 yards (Hatton, 248 yards also).
The decision and the shot meant McIlroy now faced an uphill, 197-yard approach to one of the toughest greens on the course, tied for the lead at the Masters. A little over half the field (52.8%) hit the green on Sunday, and McIlroy was attempting to do it from 30 to 40 yards farther away.
But again, he was trusting his approach play.
I watched in Scotland on Sky Sports and listened to Sir Nick Faldo and Wayne Riley debating what club McIlroy had pulled. Was it going to be a sawed off 7-iron or a full-out 8-iron? As soon as he swung, the answer was clear. A full-blooded swing, a high draw, it was the 8-iron.
As his yells of “go!” echoed through the trees, his ball landed, rolled and finished just two-feet from the hole.
Two feet, 12 inches. With the tournament on the line, McIlroy hit a 197-yard approach to tap-in distance. Consider this, the average proximity on the PGA Tour on approaches from 175 to 200 yards is 35 feet. The average proximity to hole on the 17th hole on Sunday was 43 feet. McIlroy hit it to two feet.
And he did it with the longest approach of anyone in the field. In fact, more than 80 percent of the field had 165 yards or less into the pin on 17. The average was 153. McIlroy, again, hit it to two feet from 197 yards.
The probability of a PGA Tour player hitting a shot from 200 yards to two feet is 0.37 percent, or 1-in-every-270 attempts. Again, Rory McIlroy did exactly that, with the Masters, the green jacket, the career Slam on the line.
Instead of trying to bully the hole off the tee with driver, he laid back and trusted his approach game. Despite a hiccup on the 72nd hole, he stuffed another approach in close in the playoff and won the tournament.
Ultimately, he did so because of his approach play, not in spite of it.
For the week, he gained 9.22 shots in approaches to the greens. That was more than 1.5 shots better than anyone else in the field (Hideki +7.6).
His approach on the 71st hole gained 1.10 shots by itself. Of the 277 shots McIlroy hit at Augusta, that was (statistically) the third best he hit all week. The only two shots better were his eagle chip-in on the second hole on Saturday and his fortuitous approach to the 13th hole on the same day.
Going back to this concept of a more “complete” Rory McIlroy, his statistics validated it at Augusta. Of the 13.7 shots he gained over the field during the 2025 Masters, 67 percent came from his approach play.
Compare that to his 2014 season on the PGA Tour, when he won his last two majors back-to-back, and 61 percent of his advantage, i.e. strokes gained, came from his tee shots.
He’s grown. He’s evolved. He’s improved. His now more complete. And nothing defines that better than a completed career Grand Slam.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
