Very Wrong and Very Happy About McIlroy’s Masters Prospects
Augusta Today columnist John Patrick thought the ghosts of Masters past might deny McIlroy his coveted Green Jacket. He admits he was wrong.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates winning the 2025 Masters Tournament after the playoff hole on the 18th green during the final round of the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 2025 in Augusta, Georgia.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesI was wrong.
Dead wrong.
Not only did I not pick Rory McIlroy as one of my three Masters favorites last week, but I also said, specifically, he wouldn’t win it. I told friends he wasn’t going to win. I said it on the air.
There were many reasons I thought this - Some of which he displayed during Sunday’s final round. His putt on the 72nd hole was an excellent example. But this time, he did something I hadn’t seen him do, or at least hadn’t had the opportunity to do.
What I hadn’t thought about with regard to his previous miscues was in those cases he lost. There wasn’t an opportunity to immediately come back and redeem himself. The tournament was over. There was a winner, and it wasn’t him.
That wasn’t the case yesterday. Missing that putt on the 18th hole Sunday evening didn’t mean he lost the tournament. It meant that he hadn’t won - yet. There was still a chance. He would be in a playoff. That’s where he bounced back in a historic way. He had a great drive. He played a wonderful second shot. Then there was a short putt, and he claimed his spot among the game’s greatest.
He had bounced back from adversity all day. Starting with a double bogey on the first hole, and then missing a birdie on the second hole, he found himself reeling. Especially with Bryson DeChambeau going par and then birdie on those two holes. He said later that he was really nervous going into the round and even more nervous on the first tee and that, in some ways, the double bogey on the first calmed him down. He called the second shot on the third hole his best of the day. A little, delicate bump and run shot to a front pin. He pulled it off,made the putt and rebounded. It was a day of bouncing back. After an in-the-creek disaster on the 13th hole, and the bogey on 14, he bounced back with a marvelous seven iron for a game-changing eagle.
It's the bouncing back that I hadn’t seen before. None of us had. It’s why I didn’t think he was going to win. I’m happy that he did. I’m happy I was wrong. I’m also happy I was there when Rory McIlroy made history.
