Why Rory’s win at Augusta is the sporting moment of the year

I will accept it. I am an unabashed Rory fan.

I understand there are people out there who think they “see through him” or don’t like his stance on LIV or whatever. I don’t really care.

He’s imperfect, which I can relate to, and he seems to embrace his imperfections, which I aspire to. So he threw a stick into a pond. Twice. Hell, I’ve thrown a stick or two on occasion. Not in the pond, mind you, but it’s not like I haven’t been tempted.

And, yes, he grabbed some idiot person’s phone during a practice at Sawgrass. It’s not a great look, but I know I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I’m not proud of either. I think I can speak for honest, self-aware people everywhere: we’ve all done some stupid things in our lives that we’re not particularly proud of.

We just don’t have the sports world watching us when we do it.

That being said, I love a great story as much as anyone. Rory ending his Sisyphean quest to conquer Augusta and win the last elusive piece of a career Grand Slam is a great story.

How he did it is what makes it the sporting moment of 2025.

High drama among azaleas

How well do you remember last April 13? I remember being pissed off despite Rory going into Sunday’s final round with a two shot lead. Six inches of spring snow in New Hampshire will do that to you.

The stage was set for high drama. Rory was chasing that elusive green jacket, with Bryson hot on his heels, hoping for a repeat of the previous US Open final round. Can Bryson track Rory down again? Will Rory wilt under the pressure once again? It was must-see TV.

And it started in the worst possible way for Rory with his drive finding the fairway bunker on the right. The ball was under his feet and the high edge of the bunker prevented Rory from getting onto the green. He laid up, got up to 18 feet and immediately three-footed in for a double bogey. Bryson tried and before you could say, “Here we go again,” Rory’s two shot lead was gone.

Bryson’s birdie and Rory’s par on #2 put Bryson in the lead and it looked like the final round would be a bare-knuckle grudge match between the two. That narrative quickly unraveled as Bryson regained the lead with bogeys at 3 and 4, while Rory birdied 3 and 4.

Birdies at 9 and 10 put Rory firmly in the lead, while Bryson’s double at 11 ended his hopes. The new challenger was now Rory’s Ryder Cup mate, Justin Rose.

The Back 9 roller coaster ride had just begun.

Triumph and disaster

While Bryson was stumbling, Patrick Reed and Ludwig Aberg were snooping. However, Rose was on fire. He birdied 10 and 11, while Rory cracked a little with a bogey on 11. After saving par on the treacherous 12th, he held a four-shot lead with six holes to go.

Two shots later, he’s a pitch and a putt over Rae’s Creek away from putting a bow on this one and sliding into that green jacket.

There’s nothing left but the coronation, right?

Ahhh, no.

My wife told me later, the scream I let out after Rory’s third shot on 13 sounded uncannily like a badly injured penguin. Not entirely sure how he made that connection or when he might have heard what a wounded penguin sounds like, but most marriages are better with a little mystery around the edges.

Seriously though, what kind of Rory-like self-sabotage was that? On such a large green, on such a short course on such a slope? We knew Rory’s demons weren’t going to go away quietly, but it was like they burst out of their salt and grabbed the poor guy by the throat. After two close matches at the 2024 US Open, losing THIS Masters in THIS the manner seemed beyond cruel.

It was Rory’s fourth double of the tournament and his second of the day. He was 86 yards away from putting the Masters in his pocket. Instead, he left at 13^th green associated with the Rose. A bogey by McIlroy at 14 gave Rose the lead outright.

Damn, damn, damn!

Testicular viability time

As if to prove that golf tournaments are, indeed, hard to win, Rose put the lead on defense. As Rory turned 15, Rose turned 17, falling into a three-way tie with McIlroy and Ludwig Aberg at 10-way.

Rory’s tee shot put him in a precarious spot, but what followed was a golf shot — and a Jim Nantz call — for the ages.

A six-footer for the eagle would certainly right the ship and make life easier, but making life easier for himself is not Rory’s style. Of course he missed, but the tap-in birdie put the pressure back on Roza, who tied it again with a birdie on the 18th.

It’s impossible to overstate how amazing Rose played that Sunday. His 6-under 66 was as clutch as it gets. Under different circumstances, he would definitely have been the sentimental favourite.

However, this was Rory’s time, even if he refused to take the easy way out.

We all thought he finally put the tournament to bed on the 17th. After a mediocre tee shot, Rory holed a ridiculous 8-iron to within a few yards for what should have been a bogey birdie. All he had to do was point 18.

But, of course, that would have been too easy.

Rory closed his drive in Position A and then immediately dropped his approach into the right bunker. His first shot looked great … until it didn’t.

The injured penguin groaned again.

Sweet salvation for the Grand Slam career

You could call Rory’s approach to the first playoff hole a “mulligan” of sorts. He was almost in the same spot (“a little flatter lie,” he would say later) with an uphill, 125-yarder hit to a green that will pour almost anything decent toward the cup.

Rose had already pinned his approach about 15 yards. McIlroy, with the weight of another major collapse on his shoulders, hit his fairway wedge to about two feet. Rose lost, Rory didn’t, and that was that.

I don’t know about you, but that whole afternoon spent holding the sofa in place has worn me out physically and emotionally. Mr. McIlroy’s wild ride finally ended with a career-ending Grand Slam.

There have been a number of professional players in pursuit of the career Grand Slam, but only five before Rory had won them all. I don’t care who you are or what you think of the boy; Rory becoming the sixth is a remarkable achievement.

What he did was extraordinary. The way he did it was unforgettable.

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