The Year of Rory
The 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am delivered a championship Sunday that the golf world had been craving for some time. Headed into Sunday’s final round, a quartet of European Ryder Cuppers stood poised to claim the PGA TOUR’s second signature event of the season and set a convincing tone for the year ahead.
Throughout the afternoon, Rory McIlroy, put his talents on full display as he reminded everyone, of the unique ability he has to separate when all systems are on go. Never was this more apparent than when he all but closed the tournament out with an unprecedented display of power on the par-5 14th.
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The win was his 27th on the PGA TOUR for the then four-time major champion, a victory at a place which he deemed one of the “cathedrals of golf” in his post round comments. And while the win, paired with the venue, added another chapter to the rich history of his career, in hindsight it may have marked more than another trophy for the shelf, but a change of course that would set him on a historic trajectory in the weeks that followed.
Just about 15 minutes prior to McIlroy’s crowning moment, one of his longtime Ryder Cup teammates, Justin Rose, was concluding his final round, one which began with his sights set on notching a second win in three years here. A pair of bogeys at the eighth and tenth holes, coupled with McIlroy’s back nine flurry ultimately sunk his chances but the Englishman finished strong, playing the final five holes in four-under. Capped by a hole-out for eagle from off the green with his 3-wood, a moment he celebrated with fist raised to the sky and although he ultimately fell three shots short, the week was a reminder that he has plenty left in the tank and is capable of going toe-to-toe with the world’s best, on the grandest stages in the game.
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McIlroy of course ended the day with trophy in hand, punctuating a week that began by making his second career ace on the PGA TOUR over at Spyglass Hill’s 15th.
Check out the celebration from @McIlroyRory after his hole-in-one on the 15th at Spyglass! @attproam
🎥: cram__ / Instagram pic.twitter.com/wMHO8uQSJp
— Pebble Beach Resorts (@pbresorts1919) January 30, 2025
A victory at a “cathedral.” Another by way of a playoff in March. If there had been years where McIlroy flew under the radar in pursuit of the Slam, this was certainly not one of them as he had perfectly paired ability and poise on two of the biggest stages in the game, leading into the season’s first major.
What transpired in Augusta on April 13, 2025, was one of the most dramatic days in sports. The realization of a lifelong dream, the untapping of a decade’s worth of emotions, a victory that evoked a reaction like few others before and simultaneously spelled heartbreak for one of the more beloved figures in the game. At day’s end, there they were, McIlroy and Rose, locked in embrace as the roars of patrons washed over them.
Just two months earlier, the pair had shared the spotlight on a sun-soaked Sunday afternoon here on the golden coast and who could have known where their paths would lead next. From where we stand, however many more times they make their way here, we will look forward to welcoming back Justin Rose, our 2023 champion and the quintessential gentleman and Rory McIlroy, 2025 winner and now (and forever) Grand Slam champion.