I like good arguments. So, in the name of defending an indefensible position, I’m here to tell you that the time of year on the PGA Tour was when the American journeyman Brian Campbell’s tee shot in a playoff with Aldrich Potgieter at the Mexican Open hit a tree and ricocheted back into play. He went from almost certainly being an OB and having to restart and bag the first Tour title of the young South African’s career to lifting the trophy for an improbable victory by the shortest hitter in the peloton over the longest rider in the peloton on a course that heavily favored the bomber. As if that victory wasn’t improbable enough, Campbell won again at the John Deere Classic. What a year 2025 has been for the 32-year-old University of Illinois product.
But only Campbell’s parents, his middle child and perhaps Potgieter’s accountant were nodding in agreement that it was that time of year. I admit that this year, choosing the highlight of the year was as easy as ever – there is only one answer for the time of the year and that was Rory McIlroy wins the Masters in April to complete his career Grand Slam.
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This is the moment of the 2025 golf season that will always be remembered.
McIlroy took us on the wildest roller coaster of emotions – he missed, he rallied, he was on his way to victory, he missed, he made the hero shot, he missed it again, he rinsed and repeated, then he finally pushed his approach close enough to the first playoff hole, so close that even he managed to hole it for victory – 14 years after squandering a back nine lead at Augusta National Golf Club in what would have could have been his first major. It also ended a nearly 11-year drought in the majors.
Was it the 5 iron strung on the 15? The 8 iron sparkling at 17? Or just seeing McIlroy on all fours, pounding the ground on the 18th green with the emotion of realizing he had just fulfilled his lifelong dream? Yes, yes and yes.
Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy share a moment on the 18th green after McIlroy won the 2025 Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
McIlroy became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2000 to complete a career Grand Slam. He is one of six players to have achieved this feat. And while that’s not to take anything away from Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan, who accomplished it before it became a standard, in the modern era only Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus have achieved it – and that was nearly six decades ago. This says a lot about the rarity of this achievement.
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So, sorry Brian Campbell, I tried, but even I can’t go against the grain and look past how McIlroy finally overcame the final hurdle and, as he put it, vomited on himself multiple times before reaching Golfweek’s moment of the year.
I have three moments after the celebration that will also stick with me every time I think about McIlroy’s Masters victory.
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Shane Lowry shot an 81 in the final round and he took it hard entering the clubhouse. He has already made it very clear, on his way to the locker room, that he will not be giving any interviews. But when McIlroy sealed the deal, he came down the stairs with a smile on his face, a complete 180 in his mood, and as he opened the door to go greet his buddy, hugging him and lifting him off the ground, he said of McIlroy, “He doesn’t make it easy, does he?”
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The hug that really stood out to me was the one McIlroy gave to Kate Rose, Justin Rose’s wife. McIlroy had already tried to console his opponent and he had enough self-awareness at that point to know that, for all the joy he felt, Rose was an unlucky loser for the second time in a playoff – he had previously lost to Sergio Garcia in 2017 – at the Masters. Rose shot a 10-birdie 66 in the final, but it wasn’t enough to win his second career major.
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And then, after hugging almost everyone hanging around the end zone, McIlroy uttered a phrase that provoked another wave of cheers and screams. “It’s time to go get a green jacket,” he said.
Well, it really was, and while there was plenty of genius before and after, nothing compared to McIlroy at the Masters in 2025.
This article was originally published on Golfweek: Rory McIlroy’s Masters victory is golf’s unforgettable moment of 2025
