T

he Masters continues to be the world’s best golf event, as Rory McIlroy took home the championship on Sunday in a playoff against Justin Rose to complete an epic tournament.

There was a lot to chew on here and this was the best weekend of golf in several years. McIlroy led by two strokes after 54 holes, but Rose would birdie six of his final eight to force the playoff. McIlroy birdied in the first hole of the playoff to make quick work of Rose as he completed the career grand slam.

First off, for those out there saying the quality of golf was poor are being far too cynical.

Sure, McIlroy, Rose, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and to a lesser extent Patrick Reed all had their share of chokes throughout the weekend. They all struggled to grab the lead and maintain it. All had their chances to take control and they all squandered opportunities at critical moments.

For us watching at home, yes, there were times that it looked like these guys were trying to give the tournament away. There were times that they all folded under the pressure. At the end of the day, though, this is the biggest, most historic and competitive golf tournament on Earth. Not only is there a tremendous amount of pressure on these guys, but there is also a razor thin margin for error.

We see it at every professional tournament. One bad shot, one bad hole can make or break a golfer when the stakes are this high. I’m certainly not making the case that this was McIlroy’s career best performance, but the fact that he has essentially been told that he didn’t win the green jacket as Rose and others simply lost it, is a huge disservice to him and the sport.

McIlroy bounced back after a rough go in the final nine holes to birdie in the playoff. If that is not responding to adversity and pressure, then I don’t know what is. After an 11-year major championship drought, McIlroy got the job done and cemented his place as one of the best to ever do it.

Here’s another way to look at these players struggling throughout the event: Isn’t it fascinating seeing how the human mind works in these moments?

You can obviously point to the missed shots, but what about the simple facial expressions, the body language? Seeing these guys panic in real time was strangely inspiring. Even some of the best athletes on the planet feel the weight of the moment. They are all human, too.

Would we want a perfect tournament? I know I wouldn’t.

Let’s say all of these top guys aced every hole and there were not any controversial shots or decisions made. What would we have to talk about and evaluate? We need some poor play here and there, we need to see these guys struggle to be engaged. It’d be a dull weekend if the guys made every shot look easy.

That said, I stand by that we should be remembering the 2025 Masters as one of the most compelling tournaments of all time. Not only did it require a playoff to complete, but there were truly three, four guys that had a chance to get it done entering the final round on Sunday. We saw some incredible holes, some wow moments, but also had the privilege of seeing some of the best golfers in the world navigate the incredible pressure and scrutiny of the Masters. 

As for McIlroy, although I do not care much for the person he is off the course, I was happy to see him return to the mountain top after a decade away.

It seems like a lifetime ago at this point, but when he was younger, there was a narrative that he would never win the big one. He was one of the most talented risers in the world, but it took him a few tries to bring home his first major. He fell victim to one of the biggest collapses in the history of the sport in the 2011 Masters, as he shot eight-over in the final round to lose the lead. He bounced back to get his first major win months later when he won the US Open.

He then won the PGA Championship in 2012 and later won the PGA and Open Championship in 2014, catapulting him to super stardom and fulfilling the expectations that he was the next big thing in golf. It looked like he would be on a trajectory that would possible rival Tiger Woods, as he had four majors at just 24 years old. The sky was the limit.

Just like that, though, the winning came to a halt.

He dealt with some of the typical athletic hurdles. Injuries, personal problems, slumps. He was competitive in the past decade, it’s not like he fell off the face of the earth, but he took a backseat to a handful of other young rising stars.

So, to see him come back and reinsert himself as one of the top golfers in the world was cool to see. As great as underdog stories are, there is something to be said for watching great athletes live up to their potential. McIlroy was supposed to go down as one of the best to ever do it, and this past weekend may be enough for him to make that claim. One or two more major wins would absolutely be enough and at 35 years old, he has another decade-plus of good golf left in him.