Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates after winning the Masters in a sudden death playoff on the No. 18 green at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 13, 2025.

Rory McIlroy made his boyhood dream come true when he cast off the "burden" of his 2011 Masters collapse and joined the all-time greats by donning the green jacket at last.

In an epic final round that will go down as one of the great major championship Sundays in the history of the game, the Holywood star looked to have thrown away his chance of glory not once or twice but at least three times before finally touching the Holy Grail and completing the career Grand Slam.

No Masters champion had ever made more than three double bogeys en route to victory, but after taking his tally to four with a six at the first and a gut-wrenching seven at the 13th, McIlroy bounced back each time thanks to his eternal optimism and unbridled talent.

"Yeah, look, it was a heavy weight to carry, and thankfully now I don't have to carry it and it frees me up, and I know I'm coming back here every year, which is lovely," he said of the end of his 11-year major drought and his 14-year wait for Masters redemption.

"Look, you have to be the eternal optimist in this game. 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, you know, 'Have I let this slip again?'

"But you know, again, I responded with some clutch shots when I needed to, and I’m really proud of myself for that."

When he missed a five-footer for victory on the 72nd hole, it looked like he might never have the heart to contend for a major again.

But after making a spectacular birdie three in the playoff to become just the sixth man to win the career Grand Slam, he cried tears of pure relief as he threw himself to his knees on the 18th green.

"Look, it's a dream come true," he said in his press conference. "I have dreamt about that moment for as long as I can remember. I mentioned it out in the prize ceremony, but watching Tiger here in 1997 do what he did, and then winning his first green jacket, I think that inspired so many of my generation to want to emulate what he did.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates with caddie Harry Diamond after winning the Masters in a sudden death playoff on the No. 18 green at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 13, 2025.

"You know, there were points in my career where I didn't know if I would have this nice garment over my shoulders, but I didn't make it easy today.

"I certainly didn't make it easy. I was nervous. It was one of the toughest days I've ever had on the golf course."

The Holywood star (35) went through his day, describing the knot he had in his stomach as he teed off with a two-shot lead and double-bogeyed the first to see that evaporate immediately.

He trailed when Bryson DeChambeau birdied the second, but a two-shot swing at the third gave him the lead again, and when he rode his luck and escaped from trees at the fifth and seventh to extend his advantage and appeared to be cruising to victory, a dogfight broke out on the back nine.

"Yeah, look, I've rode my luck all week," he said. "And again, I think with the things that I've had to endure over the last few years, I think I deserved it (laughter).'

"So, yeah, anytime I hit it in the trees this week, I had a gap. Even the second shot on 7 today, which I probably shouldn't have taken on. Harry was telling me not to. I was like, "No, no, I can do this'.

"So I rode my luck all week, and you need that little bit of luck to win these golf tournaments."

Four shots clear as he hit the turn, he saw Rose and Ludvig Aberg emerge as his rivals as DeChambeau faded and remained in control until he double bogeyed the 13th and bogeyed the 14th.

The rest of the round was a rollercoaster ride of mistakes and shots of pure genius with his stunning approaches to the 15th and 17th setting up birdies that gave him a one-shot lead playing the 18th.

His bogey there dredged up the ghosts of past disasters, but with pal Harry Diamond helping him reset, he closed out victory with a gap wedge to just over three feet in sudden death.

"I don't know if any Masters champions had four doubles during the week, but maybe I'm the first. But yeah, just a complete roller coaster of emotions today," he said.

" And honestly, you know, what came out of me on the last green there in the playoff was, you know, at least 11 years, if not 14 years of pent-up emotion."

Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland during the Green Jacket Presentation Ceremony after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 13, 2025.

He revealed how Angel Cabrera, his playing partner in his 2011 disappointment, left a good luck note in his locker.

It bookended an epic and difficult 14-year journey for McIlroy at Augusta and the burden he has carried in the 11 years that had passed since he completed the third leg of the career Grand Slam in the PGA at Valhalla.

"I think I've carried that burden since August 2014," he said. "It's nearly 11 years. And not just about winning my next major, but the career Grand Slam. You know, trying to join a group of five players to do it, you know, watching a lot of my peers get green jackets in the process.

"Yeah, it's been difficult, and I've tried to approach this tournament with the most positive attitude each and every time that I've shown up."

He admitted he was "unbelievably nervous" before the start and that his opening. double bogey allowed him to focus on playing rather than nerves.

He was emotional in the Butler Cabin as he remembered his parents watching at home in Northern Ireland and equally tearful when asked about his often-criticised caddie Harry Diamond.

"Yeah, I've known Harry since I was seven years old," he said, his voice choked with emotion.

"I met him on the putting green at Holywood Golf Club. We've had so many good times together."

Tearing up, he added: "He's been like a big brother to me the whole way through my life.

"To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we've had, all the crap that he's had to take from people that don't know anything about the game, yeah, this one is just as much his as it is mine.

"He's a massive part of what I do, and I couldn't think of anyone better to share it with than him."
He plans to come home to Holywood later this week to celebrate what he described as "the best day of my golfing life” with his family.

"I'm very proud of myself," he said. "I'm proud of never giving up. I'm proud of how I kept coming back and dusting myself off and not letting the disappointments really get to me. Talking about that eternal optimist again. Yeah, very proud."