Ahead of the 2025 Masters, I wrote about Lee Elder and how in 1975 his appearance as the first Black man to play in the tournament transcended the sport. Late on Sunday afternoon with the shadows lengthening over the Augusta National Golf Club, I got another opportunity to witness the power of the Masters to transcend the game with the performance of Rory McIlroy, who earned his first Green jacket in a playoff victory over Justin Rose—becoming just the sixth player to win golf’s grand slam.
Like many of the 19.5 million viewers who tuned in for the final round over the course of the five-hour CBS telecast, I had prepared myself for an epic duel between McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau. But by the end of the day what I had witnessed was one man’s inner struggle to overcome his demons and past failures to conquer a goal that he had pursued most of his life. So focused and determined to win the Masters and complete the career Grand Slam, it seemed not to matter to McIlroy that DeChambeau was in the same group with him. Even Ali and Frazier talked to each other during their three epic fights. But this was ultimately McIlroy’s fight with himself.
Surrounded by thousands of patrons who cheered, then gasped, then whispered of his demise, then celebrated with him in victory, McIlroy survived a complete collapse with a combination of grit and talent. The 35-year-old Northern Irishman is the first Masters champion to have four double bogeys in the tournament, including two in Sunday’s final round. The most talented player in the field doesn’t always win the tournament, but this time he did. McIlroy wasn’t the most accurate driver of the golf ball on Sunday, but he was when it mattered the most. The most dominant player of his generation finally won at golf’s mecca.
Angela Duckworth, the psychologist and author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, defines grit as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. Duckworth argues that while talent and luck matter to success, that in the long run grit matters as least as much, if not more than talent. McIlroy’s performance on Sunday was a study in microcosm of Duckworth’s grit model. The Masters had become for McIlroy what Duckworth and other scientists have called his “ultimate concern”, that goal that looms over all other goals.
“There were points in my career where I didn’t know if I would have this nice garment over my shoulders, but I didn’t make it easy today,” McIlroy said on Sunday evening. “It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on the golf course.”
On Sunday, McIlroy’s supreme talent and grit both propelled him as he struggled with his nerves and the pressure to win the green jacket. His talent has never been in doubt. Who else in the game could have pulled off the shot through the trees at the 7th hole on Sunday but him? But it was the grit he showed after making a double bogey on the first hole on Sunday to not give in to the demons and let the scar tissue stop him from fighting. It was the grit that helped him overcome missing the putt on the 72nd hole to fall into the playoff to go on to beat Rose in the playoff.
With a heartwarming show of emotion after finally winning the tournament and the spectacular drama of the final round, McIlroy’s win at the 89th Masters may represent the pinnacle of his career that is still blooming. His talent and past experiences at Quail Hollow, where he has won four times, make him the favorite next month to win the PGA Championship. The U.S. Open at Oakmont and the Open Championship at Royal Portrush are venues where he has the game to win.
Sure, he’ll always win with a combination of talent, power and grit, but I’m counting on grit as the key to greater success in major championships. He won’t always have the ability to hit 370 yards or hit towering long irons that land like gap wedges on greens or the courage for escape shots through trees, but he’ll have the wisdom and grit to get through most any situation. And those dark memories that arise as a reminder of past failures will be replaced with assurances of resilience and grit from the 89th Masters.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy Was the Most Talented Player at the Masters, but This Is What Put Him Over the Top.
