It was a moment of the greatest triumph, but it could never be taken for granted. Rory McIlroy’s putt to seal his first Master’s Victory and his place in history as only the sixth man ever to win the Career Grand Slam of Golf’s majors was short enough to be made 999 times out of a 1,000 but Rory has missed a few of those on his pursuit of this place alongside the greatest ever to play the game.

In many ways, it was the heartbreak along the way that made it so compelling, so dramatic, and so cathartic when the ball dropped and so did Rory, to his knees in shaking relief that he had done it.

It was the most compelling night of golf you could imagine. From a double bogey on the first to a four-stroke lead again turning for home. The shot through the eye of a needle to within feet of the hole on the seventh and all was well in the world.

But then an inexplicable dunk of the ball into the water from less than 90 yards on the 13th and a double bogey, allied to a Justin Rose Birdie up ahead and from the highest of highs, he was behind.

If a scriptwriter penned this for a Netflix drama, they would be dismissed with a wave of the hand. “There has to be some element of reality,” they’d be told.

Then on 15th, around a corner and turning what seemed like 90 degrees in the air he sets up an eagle putt. From the jaws of defeat… But the eagle putt is missed and it’s a birdie instead. Still back to the lead.

And so we go. Down the 18th, the US crowd roaring his name. Great drive, simple drop onto the green and two putts for immortality. He hits it in the bunker, misses the putt from 5 feet, and it’s a playoff.

Living inside his mind at that moment is not something you could wish on anyone. And yet, somehow, through his never in doubt brilliance with a golf club, he gives himself another chance, maybe his last, and while Rose’s putt drifts past, Rory’s drops.

There are those who will point to his millionaire lifestyle, his untold riches from the sport and wonder why we care.

Paul McGinley afterwards alluded to the fact that he has not always been universally loved.

But perhaps through his fallibility, certainly through his ballsy defence of the traditions of the sport against the onslaught of LIV Golf in recent years, and certainly because the prize of sporting immortality is so rare and elusive, it really did matter and we really did care.

It was brilliant to watch him bounce back again and again, to win over those who doubted, and to finally nail that career Grand Slam.

In terms of global record keeping, it makes him, without a doubt, the greatest Irish sporting star in history.

That he did it not by dominating his sport but by overcoming the demons in his head to allow the brilliance of his hands shine through makes it a very, very special sporting moment.

 

WHAT’S UP NEXT?

Rory will be home to play the Amgen Irish Open at the K Club in September.

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