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The 2025 Masters champion, Rory McIlroy, was Jimmy Fallon’s guest on Thursday night where the Northern Irishman discussed battling and overcoming demons of years past and present en route to winning his first green jacket. Rory McIlroy is an absolute quote machine throughout the interview as he takes us through his final round and how he overcame the double bogey on one and stayed focused throughout.
For the average golfer, golf is a brutal mental game. So much of what Rory McIlroy says below about staying locked in during the final round of The Masters applies to weekend warriors and competitive golfers alike. Focusing inward and on a goal, while not getting caught up in the moving parts around you, is crucial to success. The full interview is below with a lot of stand out quotes from McIlroy below the video.
Rory McIlroy’s Advice On Staying Focused En Route To Winning The Masters
“You start to think ‘Is it ever going to be your time? Did I miss it? Have I lost my opportunity?’ And I think there’s a good message in there about never giving up and keep coming back and be strong, be resilient. And that patience paid off.”
Rory joking called the double bogey on the first hole, which many believe to be the most difficult starting hole in professional golf, a “perfect way to start.” He went on to say that he “approached that Sunday a little differently than 2011 when (he) had (his) first opportunity to win.” Rory said with his 2-shot lead, he thought that if he “could go out and shoot 4-under par” on that Sunday he would probably go on to win the tournament.
For Rory, that -4 number was everything and he said it “was a way for (him) to make everything else irrelevant.” Adding that he was “not going to look at what (his) playing partner’s doing, not going to look at the leader board. (He’s) going to try go get into (his) own world” with the confidence that if he shot a 68 he would win The Masters.
So after recording a double bogey on the first hole, Rory knew that he could still go on to shoot a 68. He had that score in him and the confidence to do so despite the double bogey on the 445-yard par-4 with an uphill tee shot over a deep valley where the golfers are walking for what feels like 10 minutes after hitting their tee shots. It truly is a unique hole that TV cameras don’t do justice to.
Rory On Overcoming 2011 By Locking In
Looking back to 2011, Rory McIlroy believes he lost the 2011 Masters after leading through the first three rounds because he was paying too much attention to the field and what was going on around him. Rory says he felt like he “lost the Masters in 2011 because (he) started to look around, started to look at what the other guys on the course were doing. (He) started to look at the leader board and started to play math in (his) head” about scenarios to get back into it.
That year, Rory McIlroy had a 4-shot lead after the third round but would eventually finish outside of the top 10. It was a devastating loss. Charl Schwartzel fired off a final round 66 to win by 2 strokes over Jason Day and Adam Scott. Tiger Woods finished tied for 4th. Rory shot an 80 on that Sunday to drop out of the top 10 and that day would haunt him until this win in 2025.
As a true competitor, Rory notes that you cannot control what your competitors do. At least not when it comes to golf. All you can control out there is what you do, your actions. Because conversely, they cannot control what you do on the course. The same is true for a 20-index golfer. Focusing on your game, at that moment, and what you need to do to execute the next shot is how you play better golf.
I have to say, the green jacket from The Masters looks great on Rory McIlroy. Hopefully he wears it everywhere he possibly can over the next year until he has to lock it up at Augusta National where it will remain permanently.
Rory McIlroy: ‘Overwhelmed By The People That Reached Out
After winning The Masters, everyone and anyone who has crossed paths with Rory McIlroy seems to have reached out to congratulate him, including some he’s never met.
Rory said he was “sort of overwhelmed with the people that reached out from all walks of life… Culture, entertainment… But the one that got me was Sir Elton John.” Rory says that Elton’s assistant left him a voicemail saying that Sir Elton wanted to congratulate him in person but that Elton doesn’t have a cellphone.
So, Rory has to be on the lookout for a phone call from an unknown number in Windsor, England which may or may not be Sir Elton John calling to congratulate him…. I can only imagine the amount of texts Rory received. He probably needed to hire a second assistant just to respond to the thousands of messages he received.