Rory McIlroy once broke down on the phone to his parents after suffering Masters heartbreak – 14 years before his Augusta redemption. McIlroy on Sunday realised his lifelong ambition of winning the Masters Tournament.
The Northern Irishman rolled in a three-foot putt to beat Justin Rose in a nail-biting sudden-death playoff, cementing his first major win since claiming the PGA Championship and Open Championship in 2014. In doing so, he joined just a handful of golfers who have completed a career Grand Slam.
Yet, the wait for a first Masters was a gruelling and emotional one for the 35-year-old. McIlroy could have prevented his Masters curse from ever becoming a thing way back in 2011.
On that occasion, the baby-faced Holywood star arrived in Augusta fresh off the back of his best season since turning pro three years earlier. Then just 21, he looked primed to claim his first victory there and teed off with a commanding four-shot lead on the final day, leading by one at the turn despite a shaky start.
McIlroy, however, would suffer a meltdown, skewing it into the trees at the 10th tee and snap-hooking his drive into Rae’s Creek at the 13th, before finishing the day tied for 15th. And while he just about avoided bursting into tears at that moment, he certainly cried while on the phone to his mum and dad in the cruel aftermath.
“I definitely felt like crying because the drive on the 13th was the one that took all my chances away,” he told The Guardian in 2011. “But I didn’t actually cry until the next morning, when I spoke to my mum and dad.
“I spoke to them before I went to the airport on the Monday. My mum might have said something like: ‘Oh don’t worry Rory, everything will be OK’, and I just blubbed back: ‘No, it won’t be OK!’
“It was one of those things. There were so many thoughts and emotions going through my head. At the time it felt like the only chance I would have of winning at Augusta and I blew it.
“When did I last cry over golf? I dunno – when I was kid, probably. It’s not worth crying over, is it? It’s only a game.”
Over a decade on and the emotions of the Masters proved too much for McIlroy once more, this time for positive reasons. He fell to his knees and wept seconds after sealing his victory and after collecting his green jacket from last year’s winner, Scottie Scheffler.
In a heart-wrenching interview, the ace broke down as he thanked mum Rosie and dad Gerry for all the sacrifices they made in his childhood. McIlroy revealed his parents watched the win from their home in Northern Ireland.
With tears in his eyes, McIlroy said: “I would say it was 14 years in the making, going out with a four-shot lead in 2011, you’re feeling like I could have got it done there.
“There was a lot of pent-up emotion that came out on that 18th green. But a moment like that makes all the years and all the close calls worth it.
“I want to say hello to my mum and dad, they’re back home in Northern Ireland. They did (make a lot of sacrifices). I can’t wait to see them next week. Just can’t wait to celebrate this with them.”
Order your exclusive 40-page souvenir special – The Master: Rory McIlroy Joins the Giants of Golf. Relive the heartbreak, redemption, and triumph of Ireland’s greatest golfing legend as he joins the sport’s all-time greats. On sale April 19th – order your copy here and own a piece of sporting history.
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