Rory McIlroy is proud of his achievements in 2025, having won The Masters in Augusta, helped Team Europe to victory in the Ryder Cup and been named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
The popular Northern Irishman became only the sixth male golfer to win all four majors when he sealed golf’s Grand Slam with a Masters triumph in April earlier this year.
McIlroy had been close to wearing the famous Green Jacket of Augusta champions in 2011 and 2018 – but let promising positions slip through his fingers.
In 2025, he was well placed again heading into the final round, but endured a rollercoaster final 18 holes and eventually held his nerve to beat fellow Team Europe star Justin Rose in a play-off.
That nerve-jangling victory ended an 11-year wait for a fifth major title, and McIlroy told Sky Sports: “I ended up winning The Masters at 35 but I had a chance when I was 21. I also had a chance when I was 28.
“I’ve had a few more chances in between, and as your career goes on, you know, you feel like that window is closing.
“Going into that Sunday I would say, ‘could this be my final chance? Could this be the one?’”
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Years of trying and failing
McIlroy admitted winning at Augusta fulfilled a boyhood dream, adding: “The reaction was years of going there and trying and failing but it was also all the years before that, when I would sit down in my family room with my dad in Holywood.
“We would watch The Masters as a boy and a father and just think about playing that tournament one day.
“Then all of a sudden, from playing it to trying to win it, and then to have that moment.
“I remember being with Harry [Diamond, caddie] in 2005 when Tiger [Woods] chipped in on 16 against Chris DiMarco, and we watched that together.
“I have that reaction, I stand up, I turn around, and who’s the first person I see? It’s Harry.
“The only thing I can think about is just how lucky I was that it happened the way it did, because I don’t think there’s a lot of other people in golf that’ll have the moment or the feeling that I had on that 18th green at Augusta that Sunday.”
Attainable targets
The 36-year-old now fondly looks back on a staggering year as we head into the festive fortnight and thoughts drift to 2026.
And McIlroy admits he felt success on US soil, in both The Masters and the Ryder Cup, was an attainable target to set himself in 2025.
He played a vital role in Team Europe’s 15-13 away win over Team USA at Bethpage Black in New York, scoring 3.5 points for Luke Donald’s team.
McIlroy concluded: “I think I always believed it [Masters and Ryder Cup glory] was possible – I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it was.
“You’ve got all these goals and these hopes and these dreams, whenever you turn the page to a new calendar year.
“I felt like I was coming off the back of a really good end to 2024 and felt like I could ride that momentum into the start of 2025.
“I started the year great and I got confidence early, then I pretty much just roped that confidence all the way through.”
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