The Masters on Sunday night felt like watching a bout between Ali and Frazier — except it felt like Frazier was trying to knock himself out at times. Watching Rory play golf is possibly the most satisfying, frustrating, and puzzling you can feel all in one. He is no doubt the best ball striker of all time, but then he is also capable of missing a short putt when you least expect it to allow his opponent a glimmer of hope. As we saw, last Sunday turned out to be the same, but it led to the most exciting Masters of all time.
Going into the back nine, the Masters was all but over; Rory was cruising four shots ahead and with two Par 5s coming, you knew Rory was going to close out the tournament. With his knowledge of the course and his talent, Rory would finally secure his grand slam. However, after a poor bogie on the 11th and a pitch shot on the 13th from only 64 yards that Rory managed to block well right of his target and end up in the stream, will surely go down as one of the wildest moments in sports history.
Nobody saw it coming, not alone Rory himself, who I have no doubt was in pure disbelief. It must have felt like his body had just ceased to work over this shot from the severe pressure. It is easy to have these opinions from a couch, but it shows us how much pressure can influence our body’s range of motion and how much the body can seize up to cause such a catastrophic error at a pinnacle moment.
If Rory pitches close and manages to birdie the hole, he remains four ahead. Instead, he ends up with a double bogie, dropping two shots, while Rose birdies the 16th to cause a three-shot swing. As we know, this is a common result at Augusta, with cleverly positioned pins that can lead to birdies but also double bogies or worse.
We can take so much from last Sunday’s final round. None of us know when rock bottom is coming — like I am sure how Rory felt after pitching into the stream on the 13th — however, it is how you react that matters the most. Rory’s attacking 7 iron from over 200 yards to manage to hook it some 50 yards right to left in-between ponds on the front and back of the green has to go down as one of the greatest shots in golf.
Just when we thought he had lost the tournament, he pulled off that miraculous shot. Then, in Rory fashion, he missed the short eagle putt that would have surely secured the tournament. Then Rose holds an amazing 40-footer on the 18th to join Rory atop the leaderboard. Rory replies right away with another sensational iron to inside three feet from 184 yards to get one ahead of Rose again.
All Rory needs to do now is to find the fairway on the 18th because the pin is so accessible, situated in front of a large ridge. The hardest shot is the tee shot. Rory smokes his driver up the centre in perfect position with possibly the easiest 125-yard gap wedge he will ever hit. However, as it can and will happen under the severe pressure of a major, Rory misses the green, ending up in the right-hand bunker.
Even after hitting a superb bunker shot to 5ft, you knew with Rory’s putting history this was no certainty — and he did manage to miss it. At least he had a chance to redeem himself in a playoff with Justin, which he duly did with two more of the best shots of the tournament. First, his impeccable drive and then gap wedge to 3ft to birdie the last to win his first Masters title and, more importantly, achieve the grand slam of golf, having won all four majors on the tour now.
Rory is possibly the most talented player ever from tee to green. However, around the greens, his confidence definitely struggles. Rory’s grit, resilience, and drive — when we could all see the nerves he was battling — was one of the greatest achievements I have ever witnessed.
It reminded me of when Tyson Fury was KOd, but somehow on the count got up and just about managed to stay on his feet, yet went on and won the fight. You have to be in awe of a person who finds a way to get through their struggles and achieve greatness.
Rory, in my eyes, will be invincible now for the rest of the 2025 season. He no longer has any monkeys on his back. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see him lift another major this season. Rory never gave up on his dreams of winning — even when he made error after error, he fought back with incredible shots to eventually wear the green jacket he always dreamt of.
“Resilience is the bridge between adversity and achievement — each time you rise after a fall, you build the strength to reach even greater heights.”
