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THE HARD WAY (RORY McILROY: THE MASTERS WAIT)


RORY McILROY: THE MASTERS WAIT

Is there any professional sportsman more compelling than Rory McIlroy?

A terrific ambassador for golf, by the age of 35 the Northern Irishman won just about every major tournament in the game.

But the journey getting there has been arduous.

While McIlroy has won 40 tournaments, including five Major championships in his career, there have been so many near misses including four runner up spots in the Majors.

Expectations that he'd just slot into the space occupied by Tiger Woods surged when he won the US Open in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012 and the Open and PGA again in 2014.

Just one Major win away from taking his place alongside the greats of the game who completed the career Grand Slam - Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods - all he had to do was win the US Masters.

But what looks easy on paper is more difficult on grass.

It would be 11 years before McIlroy would complete the career Grand Slam or even win another Major.

Watching him struggle to fulfil his promise as new superstars emerged like Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Bryson de Chambeau, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler was extremely hard.

But it was the near misses at the 2022 Open Championship in St Andrews and the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst from winning positions that really hurt.

For all his achievements, McIlroy was casually dismissed by armchair pundits as a choker, with many people doubting he would ever win a Major again.

And that's what made last year's US Masters triumph so sweet.

After 14 attempts and the mental scars of blowing a four shot lead in the final round of his first ever US Masters in 2011, genuine golf fans were delighted to see him not only receive the much covered Green Jacket at Augusta National but deservedly take his place alongside the greats of the game .

McIlroy being McIlroy, it was a hell of a slog getting there in the Masters final round.

There were ups and downs but he achieved the extraordinary nevertheless.

McIlroy's slog to glory is captured in Drea Cooper's 'Rory McIlroy: The Masters Wait' which uses the final round of the 2025 tournament to examine the forces that shaped Europe's only career Grand Slam champion.

Drawing on interviews with McIlroy, his parents Gerry and Rosie, his first coach Michael Bannon, golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, sports psychologist Bob Rotella, putting guru Brad Faxson, his first caddie JP Fitzgerald and friend Niall O'Connor, the documentary is a fascinating insight into the psychology of the sport.

Rory McIlroy is as candid as ever about his struggles on the course and the weight of expectation that impeded him.

Previous failures at Augusta National and the lessons learned from them are fully explored.

Plundering snippets of commentary from BBC Radio Five Live's Iain Carter, Sky Sports pundit Paul McGinley and also UTV and BBC Northern Ireland footage of his childhood years - including the famous clip of him chipping golf balls into a washing machine on the 'Kelly' Show - Cooper's film paints the picture of an ambitious, hard working golf fanatic who from an early age responded to positivity at his home club I. Holywood, Co Down and struggled with setbacks.

We learn from McIlroy of his battle of wills in the final round of last year's Masters with Bryson de Chambeau, who pipped him to the post at the previous year's US Open, with a pivotal stand off over who should putt first on the ninth green.

McIlroy reveals how he boldly gambled on a seven iron shot through some trees on the 15th despite his childhood friend and caddie Harry Diamond advising him not to take it on.

After the setback of bogeying the final hole and squandering his chance to win, he explains how Diamond quickly got him into the right frame of mind for a play-off with Justin Rose by observing how at the start of the championship both of them would have been delighted to be contending for the title in a sudden death.

McIlroy comes across as an affable, honest ambassador for the game.

But the documentary also celebrates a sportsman who has pulled off remarkable feats whilst never appearing superhuman.

McIlroy's humility and fragility on the golf course weirdly are his most attractive qualities.

While his place among the all time greats is deserved, the fact that his wins have been hard earned only add the sense of achievement.

Unburdened by the weight of expectations now that he has achieved a rare feat, here's hoping he manages to eke out more Major triumphs in the years ahead.

('Rory McIlroy: The Masters Wait' was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime on March 30, 2026)


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