Rory McIlroy opens up on difficulty of winning Masters

After a 17-year wait, Rory McIlroy’s reaction to winning the 2025 Masters captured the emotion of fulfilling his lifelong dream to write his name into golf history.

Completing the coveted career grand slam in 2025 was no simple feat. In a nerve-shredding playoff against Justin Rose, McIlroy delivered a masterclass under pressure to finally secure his historic first green jacket.

He turned years of near misses into unforgettable triumph, as the world No. 2 acted like winning the Masters was second nature in 2026. He became the first back-to-back champion since Tiger Woods in 2022.

“I find it pretty difficult,” said McIlroy, who has seven top-10 finishes at Augusta National in 17 appearances.

“I certainly found it difficult in '25. I don't think I found it as difficult this year, but there was still an underlying — not for the major championships, but for some of the other events that you feel like you're just filling time to get to the next major championship in some ways, and that's hard because you don't want to feel like that.”

McIlroy bogeyed the 72nd hole in 2025 to fall back to 11-under-par, tying with Rose and forcing a playoff. But the 73rd hole finished the tournament.

“You want to bring the best of yourself every week, of course you do, but when you have success earlier in the year, sometimes it can lead to that, or it certainly led to that for me at times,” said McIlroy.

McIlroy noted at the Tour Championship that his motivation has to be high in order to win, as the 37-year-old showed up to Augusta National multiple times before the event started to practice the course.

He took his private jet to Augusta, played a round, and then flew back that same night to spend time with his daughter, Poppy.

"I think once you lose your enthusiasm to go to the course, it is time to take a break," McIlroy said at the Tour Championship.

"I've turned up to events that I haven't necessarily wanted to be there because I feel like I should be there."

While achieving the elusive career grand slam would be the peak of any golfer's journey, McIlroy's pursuit of greatness is continuing this week at Wentworth as he looks back on the 2026 Masters.

“If I win the Masters again next year, hopefully I'm better at it next year. These are all good problems to have,” he said.