MAUREEN MADILL COLUMN: RORY’S GLORY REVISITED
The moment Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy became only the sixth player to win golf’s Grand Slam after winning The Masters at Augusta in APril 2025. (Photo: Courtesy The Masters 2025 Official video)
GUEST COLUMN: BY MAUREEN MADILL
I decided I’d indulge myself this week and give myself a Christmas present. In the hurly-burly of the festive season, running around buying presents for everyone else, and continuing to fight a war on three fronts against the still-settling dust from the kitchen renovation, I’ve hardly had a moment to myself. So, when I received an email telling me the 2025 Masters Official Film was now available to view I thought, “That’s for me. Feet up for an hour or so is on the horizon.”
Rory McIlroy has been on my mind this past couple of weeks. We’re at that time of year when all sorts of awards are dished out and traditionally it used to be nail-biting stuff to find out who was crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY). Alas, that once great programme is a shadow of its former self, largely because of the decimation of numerous great sporting events from the channel. That means to show any footage of golf, for example, the Beeb has to buy said footage from the host broadcasters thus making the whole endeavour extremely pricey. And so, golf, among other sports, tends to get short shrift from the Corporation.
I know I’m passionate about golf but, in my mind, I do try to choose the person for the top SPOTY award who has achieved something incredible. Doing my best to be unbiased, and despite all the wonderful achievements of our athletes and teams this year, I still have Rory way out in front.
I was thrilled last weekend when Lando Norris was crowned Formula 1 world champion, the first British winner of the title since Lewis Hamilton several years ago. That was stupendous, the achievement of a lifelong dream and nail-biting to the very end when he won by the slender margin of two points. To see his Mum and Dad celebrate and realise that they had made it all possible was heartwarming indeed. We have, however, had numerous other British drivers in the past [ten in all] who have been world champion.
Back to the golf. We have never had a Grand Slam winner in golf from Europe, let alone from these shores and Rory is only the SIXTH person in the whole history of the game to win all four majors. Two of those remarkable men, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan, are no longer with us. This means there are only four people on this planet who are Grand Slam Champions – Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods……and Rory. Whether you’re a fan of golf or not – surely that puts him way out ahead of any other contenders?
Watching the Masters film reminded me of the wringer McIlroy put us through. I was cross with him as early as the 15th hole of Thursday’s round. All was seemingly going well to that point with the Irishman four under but he then inexplicably took a fit of the head staggers, chipping the ball from the back of the green at fifteen straight into the water fronting the putting surface. Two doubles in the space of three holes resulted in a ho-hum 72, a mere seven shots behind Justin Rose’s brilliant 65. That’s another Masters out of sight, we all thought.
But then, Friday brought Rory doing Rory things and a scintillating 66 zoomed him up the leaderboard, now only two behind his Ryder Cup teammate Rose, who was still at the head of affairs but only one ahead of Bryson DeChambeau.
Saturday was nothing short of joyous for Rory supporters when he opened with six consecutive threes, something that had never been accomplished before. The entire country of Ireland ground to a halt. Those supposed to be doing something else were suddenly unavailable. Golf clubs were packed to the hilt by those brave enough to be in a public arena to watch their favourite son close in on the impossible. Those of an even more heightened disposition remained at home, unable to trust their emotions or language and needing space to pace, pace and pace. With a second consecutive 66 in the books we all fell into bed exhausted with our man holding a two-shot lead over DeChambeau, the player who had cruelly swiped the US Open title from McIlroy’s grasp the previous year.
And so to Sunday April 13th 2025 and the burden of overwhelming hope that finally THIS would be the day of all days for Rory, for his family, for his friends, for Ireland, for Europe and for all his fans. The flickering flame of that hope was all but doused in an enormous draught of cold air in the first half hour of play. First hole: Rory, a double; Bryson, a par. Both were now 10 under. Second hole: Rory, a par. Bryson, a birdie. Rory is no longer leading.
Resilience has been the Irishman’s watchword for the past couple of seasons and he works hard to be able to bounce back when things go wrong. Summoning all his positivity after blowing his lead so quickly Rory birdies the 3rd, then the 4th and boom, just like that his lead is not only restored, but enhanced. Three ahead.
MAKING OF A GRAND SLAM WINNER
Watch how Rory McIlroy won The Masters at Augusta to etch his name into the history books as a Grand Slam winner.
(Graphic: Courtesy The Masters)
Standing on the 10th tee he is four clear. Oh-oh. Memories of being in the exact same position in 2011 must have been in his mind. They were certainly in mine………but 14 years on, surely Rory was a different player now from that long ago young gun? He birdies 10, manages to stay out of the water on 11 with his second and finds the heart of the green at the 12th – all potential card-wrecking parts of the golf course.
Still three ahead of Justin Rose, who is having a storming round and is two holes ahead, and Bryson. Dare we relax and breathe easier now? Only six to go and three to the good.
And then…..Rory did more Rory stuff and pitched his third into the creek at the 13th. In disbelief we watched a seven unfold, followed by a bogey on the 14th and as he picked the ball out of the hole we had a three-way tie at the top on ten under – Justin, Rory and Ludvig Aberg.
Perhaps the moment was too big for Rory? The pressure of what he was trying to accomplish was immense. It was certainly far too much for his supporters.
And then he responded with two of the finest iron shots I’ve seen him play, one into 15 (he made birdie) and one into 16 (he made par), both to seven feet or so. Both putts slid by and at this point, with Justin birdieing the 16th to go to eleven under, the pair were tied. If Justin had been up against anyone other than Rory I’d have been supporting him and his caddy Futch to the hilt – but this was no time for sentiment.
The 17th was key. Rory snatched a birdie from the course to move to twelve under while Aberg and Rose both gave one back and Rose’s closing birdie on the last only restored him to the eleven under mark. A boomer of a tee shot up the hill at the 18th and this was surely it. McIlroy, in the centre of the fairway with a wedge in hand, had “only” to hit the green and take two putts and his date with destiny would be achieved.
With horror, disbelief, anger and disappointment we watched him hit an atrocious shot into the bunker, splash out to seven feet and then not even hit the hole with his putt. I felt sick; everyone felt sick; the country was sick; Rory looked sick.
And now, that famous “R” word comes rushing back to me – resilience. In the play-off another booming tee shot sets up another wedge and this time Rory summoned up the mental strength to execute beautifully, bringing the ball back down the slope behind the pin to three feet or so. When Justin’s birdie attempt refused to drop, here we were again, teetering on the brink of watching one of our own achieve the seemingly impossible.
The ball dropped and Rory dropped, sobbing, to his knees and we dropped into our chairs from the utter drama and sheer exhaustion of it all. Ireland partied for days.
Ah, Rory, what a Christmas present it was watching it all again. Enjoy a well-earned seasonal break, as will we, from our little blog.
Happy festive season everyone. We’ll see you all again sometime in February and hopefully share more amazing moments from this wonderful sport.
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