Rory McIlroy's golfing immortality - enjoy something very special and the hard graft to achieve it

Time and time again, though, Rory McIlroy had picked himself up, refused to believe that he would never win another major and gone again.

Heaven knows what scars would have been left if it had ended up badly for him again at Augusta National on Sunday and he did his best for that to happen. Thankfully, though, we will never know.

At the end of possibly the most dramatic day in golf’s history, the 35-year-old Northern Irishman achieved his Holy Grail. No longer will he be referred to as ‘career grand slam-chasing Rory McIlroy’.

In beating his Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose to win the 89th Masters, McIlroy joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to have won the game’s four majors.

It all seemed so easy for McIlroy when, ironically, of course, a couple of months after blowing a four-shot lead in the final round at Augusta National, he landed the 2011 US Open by eight shots at Congressional Country Club.

He then added the PGA Championship the following year by the same margin at Kiawah Island and was absolutely flying when winning The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2014 then, a few weeks later, a second PGA Championship at Valhalla.

All that was standing between him and immortality was a Green Jacket and, at the 11th attempt in terms of completing that grand slam and 17th in total, he’s got one - a 38 regular, for the record.

“There's been a few,” replied McIlroy in his post-event press conference to being asked what had been the low point during his major drought, having tied five players, the most recent being Woods, with the longest gap between wins in the game’s marquee events.

“It's hard because, like, I've played so much good golf. It's hard to call the second-place finishes. St Andrews (where, after his putter turned cold, he was denied by a brilliant last round from Cameron Smith in the 150th Open in 2022) was a tough one to take because you only get a few opportunities there, you know, during the course of your career.

“The US Open last year (when he missed a couple of short putts late on and lost out to Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst) was awful. But, yeah, the losses are hard, and you know, again, just so proud of myself that I keep coming back and putting myself in positions to win these championships.”

In terms of The Masters, McIlroy had tried everything you could think of to see if it would do the trick. In the end, it was a combination of some outstanding golf and being resilient that got the job done but, as he admitted, extraordinary achievements like this one don’t come easy.

“You have to be the eternal optimist in this game,” he added, having joined Seve Ballesteris, James Braid, Brooks Koepka, Byron Nelson, J.H Taylor and Peter Thomson on the five-major mark. You know, I've been saying it until I'm blue in the face. I truly believe I'm a better player now than I was ten years ago.

“You know, it's so hard to stay patient. It's so hard to keep coming back every year and trying your best and not being able to get it done. There were points on the back nine today, I thought, ‘have I let this slip again?’ But I responded with some clutch shots when I needed to, and really proud of myself for that.

“It's been an emotionally draining week for a lot of reasons, a lot of just roller coaster rounds and late finishes. So just absolutely thrilled to be sitting here at the end of the week as the last man standing.”

On an extraordinary day, the world No 2 lost a two-shot lead over playing partner DeChambeau straight away after starting with a double bogey before then falling behind as the American birdied the second. Helped by back-to-back two-shot swings, it was advantage McIlroy again and, at one point, he was four ahead.

A shocking wedge shot at the 13th that led to a double-bogey 7 would have haunted him forever if it hadn’t worked out the way it did, but a jaw-dropping 7 iron around the trees at the 15th, a stunning approach at the 17th and then an equally good one at the 18th in the sudden-death play-off with Justin Rose meant it was McIlroy’s time at the Georgia venue at last.

“I would see a young man that didn't really know a whole lot about the world. I would,” he replied to being asked about 2011, when he looked crushed as a wayward tee shot at the tenth led to one of the most-crushing disappointments of his career.

“Yeah, I'd say I probably would see a young man with a lot of learning to do and a lot of growing up to do. Maybe I probably didn't understand myself. I didn't understand why I got myself in a great position in 2011, and I probably didn't understand why I let it slip in a way. But I think just having a little more self-reflection.

“You know, that experience, going through the hardships of tough losses and all that, and I would say to him, just stay the course. Just keep believing. I've literally made my dreams come true today, and I would say to every boy and girl listening to this, believe in your dreams, and if you work hard enough and if you put the effort in, that you can achieve anything you want.”

Quail Hollow, a happy hunting ground for him, is next up in the majors for the PGA Championship while a home gig awaits at Royal Portrush in the 153rd Open in July. For now, though, let’s just enjoy something very special indeed and the hard yards it’s taken to achieve it.