Rory McIlroy exclusive: Grand Slam glory, winning The Masters and why 2025 was the 'best year' of his golfing career
Rory McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam at The Masters and also won the Ryder Cup during a memorable 2025; watch 'McIlroy ’25: A Career Year - a new documentary - on Tuesday at 9pm on Sky Sports Golf, with repeats over the festive period'
Monday 22 December 2025 18:54, UK
Rory McIlroy has admitted he feared he may never win The Masters before he completed the career Grand Slam during the 'best year' of his golfing career.
McIlroy became just the sixth male golfer in history and first European to complete the Grand Slam with his dramatic victory at Augusta National in April, where he beat Justin Rose in a play-off to end an 11-year wait for his fifth major title.
The world No 2 experienced 21 top-10 majors without victory between his 2014 PGA Championship success to securing the Green Jacket, including six at The Masters, with McIlroy under scrutiny after several near-misses in previous attempts.
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McIlroy had failed to convert a four-shot lead at the final day of the 2011 Masters and slipped away on the Sunday of the 2018 contest, having been in the final group alongside Patrick Reed, before his 2025 victory saw him become the first player since Tiger Woods to join the Grand Slam club.
"Yeah, I did doubt that moment would ever happen," McIlroy told Sky Sports ahead of 'McIlroy '25: A Career Year', a new documentary released this month. "I felt like I'd had loads of chances before.
"I ended up winning The Masters at 35 but I had a chance when I was 21. I also had a chance when I was 28. I've had a few more chances in between, and as your career goes on, you know, you feel like that window is closing.
"Going into that Sunday I would say, 'could this be my final chance? Could this be the one?' I think with the way it all played out, Bryson in the final group and just after Pinehurst in 2024 [US Open], there was a lot riding on that day.
"So yeah, I had my doubts before that, but I had to sort of put that all in the back of my mind, just go out and try to play a good round of golf, which I don't feel like I did. I did in parts, but I didn't in others."
McIlroy took a two-shot advantage into a roller-coaster Sunday, where he temporarily moved four ahead until following a bogey at the 11th by making a double-bogey at the par-five 13th after finding water.
Another dropped shot at the next was cancelled out by birdies at the 15th and 17th, before McIlroy cancelled out bogeying the 72nd hole by making a close-range birdie on the first play-off hole to spark emotional celebrations.
"The reaction was years of going there and trying and failing but it was also all the years before that, when I would sit down in my family room with my dad in Holywood," McIlroy explained.
"We would watch The Masters as a boy and a father and just think about playing that tournament one day. Then all of a sudden, from playing it to trying to win it, and then to have that moment.
"I remember being with Harry [Diamond, caddie] in 2005 when Tiger [Woods] chipped in on 16 against Chris DiMarco, and we watched that together. I have that reaction, I stand up, I turn around, and who's the first person I see? It's Harry.
"The only thing I can think about is just how lucky I was that it happened the way it did, because I don't think there's a lot of other people in golf or in that'll have the moment or the feeling that I had on that 18th green at Augusta that Sunday."
Why McIlroy's 2025 means more than 2014 majors
Masters glory was part of a remarkable 2025 for McIlroy, who also won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players on the PGA Tour before claiming an epic play-off victory at the DP World Tour's Amgen Irish Open.
The Northern Irishman was a key part of Europe's historic Ryder Cup success at Bethpage Black, contributing 3.5 points during their 15-13 away victory over Team USA, two years on from predicting a historic win on American soil during their 2023 winner's press conference.
"I think I always believed it [The Masters and Ryder Cup double] was possible - I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it was," McIlroy explained. "You've got all these goals and these hopes and these dreams, whenever you turn the page to a new calendar year.
"I felt like I was coming off the back of a really good end to 2024 and felt like I could ride that momentum into the start of 2025. I started the year great and I got confidence early, then I pretty much just roped that confidence all the way through."
McIlroy ended the campaign by securing the DP World Tour's season-long Race to Dubai title for a seventh time, with the 36-year-old proud of his 2025 achievements.
"I could maybe say that I won more majors in 2014, but I feel this year to me [is best] because of the things that I felt like I had left to achieve in my career - to be able to win The Masters, to win an away Ryder Cup, to win my National Open," McIlroy insisted.
"If I'm just looking for big moments, if that's what the rest of my career is for the next 10 years, these big moments dotted throughout, you can't get three bigger moments than the ones that I've had this year.
"Because of that, it's the best year that I've ever had."
Watch 'McIlroy '25: A Career Year', a new documentary reflecting on his historic 2025, this Christmas on Sky Sports. The show will premiere at 9pm on Tuesday on Sky Sports Golf and be repeated throughout the festive period. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
