“Dreams do come true”, Rory McIlroy asserted after wrapping up his grand slam quest with a Masters win in April 2025. Having won the other major tournaments, a win at the Masters Tournament was the only missing part in McIlroy's major wins.

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in May 2025, McIlroy offered a candid reflection on his Masters win, which came after 16 tries.

McIlroy confessed, “On my third time playing, way back in 2011, I had a four-shot lead going into the final round, wasn’t able to win.” That year, he finished at T15.

The five-time major champion competed for the 17th time in the 2025 Masters Tournament. He nearly won the event in 2022, falling behind Scottie Scheffler by just three strokes. McIlroy had top-five finishes on three more occasions. However, these back-to-back failures made him question if he would ever be able to achieve a career grand slam. 

But ultimately, his never-give-up attitude paid off. As Rory McIlroy mentioned in the show, “I think there’s a good message in there about never giving up and keep coming back and be strong, be resilient. And, you know, that patience paid off.” 

But to win, he had to revisit his strategy and change an important aspect of his gameplay. 

What Finally Brought Success to Rory McIlroy?

The 2011 Masters Tournament is McIlroy's worst heartbreak for a good reason. He was initially leading by three shots, but then he made a triple bogey. Another double bogey on the 11th and 12th green ended his hopes of winning the event. He signed for 8-over 80 and ended up at T15.

“I felt like I lost the Masters in 2011 because I started to look around,” McIlroy told Fallon. “I started to look at what the other guys were on the course doing, I started to look at the leaderboard, I started to, like, play math in my head about, ‘Okay, well, if he’s done that, I can do this.”

Thankfully, the story in 2025 tilted in his favor. In golf, the only thing one should focus on is oneself. And that’s exactly what Rory McIlroy did to achieve his major victory this time. 

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Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Joyita Das