The RORS from the 16th Hole

Attending the Masters is as much an auditory experience as it is a visual one. This week, you’ll read countless accounts from great journalists breaking down how the 2025 Masters unfolded — but this is my version, lived across three holes and six hours: distant roars, collective groans, brilliant shots, missed chances, and the slow, deliberate updates on manual scoreboards that held every patron captive.

(I’ve deliberately avoided watching the final-round broadcast, afraid that it might dull the vividness of what I saw and felt. So if this story contains errors — that’s okay. This is how I remember it.)

I won’t bore you with the scene on top of the hill by the clubhouse — just know it’s the Masters’ version of a town square. If you ever go, it’s a great place to run into old friends and make new ones.

Rory vs. Bryson – Hole 1

I was walking the grounds with Adam Ikamas, Executive Director of the Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association, who’d generously hosted me at the Quad C House — just two blocks from Augusta’s front gates.

The first groans of the day rolled like thunder across the grounds.

At the Masters, you can often guess the player from the sound of the crowd — the way the cheer carries or the hush falls. As the scoreboards began updating, we saw it: Rory had doubled the 1st. A collective exhale swept across Augusta National. From one corner of the course to the next, groans followed the manual score updates, like watching the same bad news travel through time zones.

Hole 2

Adam and I were making our way toward the 16th when the next wave of sound crested — this one a cheer. At Augusta, without phones or video boards, the imagination runs wild. You hear the noise, then stand frozen, waiting for the scoreboard worker to lift that white panel and reveal the truth.

This time, it was Bryson with a birdie and Rory with a par — Bryson had taken the early lead.

A man walking beside me muttered, “I knew Rory would choke, but I didn’t think it would happen this fast.” He wasn’t alone. Across the grounds, the same thought echoed: NOT AGAIN!!!

Holes 3 & 4

Funny how memory compresses moments. It felt like, in the blink of an eye, the entire tournament shifted.

Rory birdied the 3rd and 4th. Bryson bogeyed both.

Back-to-back roars echoed through the pines. There was even a faint chant: “Rory! Rory! Rory!”

It wasn’t over — but it felt close.

Holes 9 & 10

Earlier in the day, we stopped to watch a few groups on 9. The pin was tucked just a few paces from the false front. The green looked like glass. Players were terrified of it.

In back-to-back pairings, we saw two players putt their balls right off the green and 20 yards down the fairway. Theegala was one of those players who’s putt from 20 feet didn’t just miss — it left the green entirely. His bogey save was a sideways, back-to-the-hole miracle. The cheer for that bogey might’ve been one of the loudest of the day.

That’s why it was hard to believe Rory birdied the 9th. Then he birdied the 10th.

I turned to Adam and the Quad C crew and said, “I might head out early. I’m happy for Rory, but I just want a little drama. Last year was a coronation — this one feels the same.”

Hole 11

Then the first crack.

The scoreboard overlooking the 15th and 16th posted Rory’s bogey at 11. It didn’t change my mind — I was still thinking of leaving — but it was something.

I turned to a nearby group and said, “If Rory’s smart, he plays like Zach Johnson on 13 and 15. Lay up, take the par, go home with the jacket.”

Holes 13 to 16: Time Stands Still

This is where it got surreal. I was sitting across the pond on 16, with a clear view of the 15th, 16th, and the 17th tee. The idea was to watch one more group and then call it a day.

Rose birdied 15 to get to -10. Rory was at -13. Aberg was in good position in the 15th fairway.

All was calm — until the scorer pulled the panel for Rory’s 13th.

You can’t hear Amen Corner from 16, so we had no idea what had happened. All we could do was wait for that small white panel to slide back into place.

Then it dropped: Rory had DOUBLED the 13th.

The crowd gasped.

Aberg birdied 15 moments later. Suddenly, Rose and Aberg were just one back. Rose stuffed one on 16 and made birdie — tie game.

Then: The scoreboard updated Rory’s score…. RORY HAD BOGIED 14!!!. The frenzy from the patrons was at an alltime high, someone behind me started to cry, “No Rory no!”

There was a moment of stunned silence, broken by a single yell: “LET’S GO ROSE!”

Justin Rose was leading the Masters with two holes to play.

Rory at 15: A Shot for the Ages

From where I sat, Rory looked blocked out on the left side of the 15th fairway. Everyone assumed he’d lay up. He was +3 over his last two holes — surely, he’d play it safe.

Then came the strike.

The ball soared — bending like a comet through the Georgia air. When it landed, the world erupted. It was one of the greatest shots in Masters history, given the player, the moment, and the weight of the past 11 years.

Rory had a look at eagle.

He missed!

Just as he had for over a decade, the putter failed him. But the tap-in birdie tied him with Rose at -11. 

Time Collapses Again

Rory missed another golden opportunity with a strong birdie look on the 16th, but once again his golf ball failed to succumb to the gravity of the golf hole. 

By now, the patrons at 16 had thinned. People were streaming toward 18. On the way, I found a line through the pines, just in time to see Rory’s approach into 17.

From my angle, he looked dead. Too far right, nothing to work with.

But he hit the green. Moments later: another roar. Rory had birdied 17.

And that, in truth, was the last shot I saw with my own eyes. The rest of the tournament for me was a series of gasps, groans and cheers. 

In the End 

You know the rest of the story — Rory would claim the 2025 Masters in the playoff, earning his first major in 11 years and becoming just the sixth player in history to complete the professional Career Grand Slam.

I used to believe Augusta National was doing patrons a disservice by not offering live video boards around the course. But after experiencing what unfolded between the 13th and 18th holes, I’m starting to wonder if I ever want to watch the 2025 telecast. Like reading a great novel only to have it dulled by the movie adaptation, I fear the broadcast might dilute the magic of what I lived in real time.

Now, I understand: the sensory deprivation, the timelessness, the pure immersion — that’s what makes the Masters the greatest live event in golf. Maybe even in sport.

What Does the Career Grand Slam Mean for Rory’s Legacy?

These conversations are never easy — and they’re always a bit speculative — but that’s part of what makes them so compelling. On this week’s TalkinGolf History podcast, we’re thrilled to welcome author Michael Arkush to discuss his latest book, which ranks the Top 100 Golfers of All Time. Naturally, Rory McIlroy will be at the center of that conversation.

With his dramatic win at the 2025 Masters, Rory now holds five professional major championships — tying him for 15th all-time. Here’s how the numbers stack up:

Career Major Titles (Selected)

 • Jack Nicklaus – 18 (Career Grand Slam)

 • Tiger Woods – 15 (Career Grand Slam)

 • Walter Hagen – 11*

 • Ben Hogan – 9 (Career Grand Slam)

 • Gary Player – 9 (Career Grand Slam)

 • Tom Watson – 8

 • Harry Vardon – 7

 • Bobby Jones – 7**

 • Gene Sarazen – 7 (Career Grand Slam)

 • Sam Snead – 7

 • Arnold Palmer – 7

 • Lee Trevino – 6

 • Nick Faldo – 6

 • Phil Mickelson – 6

 • Byron Nelson – 5

 • Peter Thomson – 5

 • Seve Ballesteros – 5

 • Brooks Koepka – 5

 • Rory McIlroy – 5 (Career Grand Slam)

* Hagen’s wins came before the Masters existed and won the Western Open 5 times

** Jones’ career predated the modern major structure and he won the first ever Grand Slam

For this discussion, let’s narrow the focus. We’ll exclude players who didn’t have the opportunity to compete for all four modern majors — legends like Young Tom Morris, James Braid, and J.H. Taylor — in order to make an apples-to-apples comparison.

So where does Rory stand?

In this historian’s eyes, Rory’s five majors must be viewed through the elevated lens of the Career Grand Slam — a feat achieved by only six players in history. The Grand Slam, at least in theory, represents the mastery of every fundamental question the game of golf can ask:

 • The U.S. Open is a test of endurance. Can you survive a course — and yourself — when everything is pushed to the edge?

 • The PGA Championship is a shootout. Can you go low — and keep going low — when the pressure peaks?

 • The Open Championship is elemental. Can you battle wind, rain, and raw terrain, and come out the other side with clarity and control?

 • The Masters is memory. Can you face your past demons, the same shots and same holes year after year, and finally get it right?

Winning all four majors means you’ve mastered every dimension of championship golf — physical, mental, strategic, emotional. It’s not just an achievement — it’s a mirror held up to the soul of a golfer.

When we weigh Rory’s career against the backdrop of golf history — and account for that Grand Slam — he moves beyond raw major count. He surpasses the likes of:

 • Phil Mickelson, Nick Faldo, and Sam Snead, who each won six to seven majors but never could win the U.S. Open. 

 • Arnold Palmer, who famously couldn’t conquer the PGA Championship.

 • Lee Trevino, who never slipped into the Green Jacket.

Measured against those who had access to the modern major quartet, Rory now belongs in the rarest company — shoulder to shoulder with Gene Sarazen at seven major titles and a Grand Slam.

On my list (excluding my omissions stated prior), that puts him somewhere near the Top 10 all-time, comfortably ahead of some legends, still trailing icons like Hogan, Player, and Watson — but now in the realm of legacy rather than potential.

It’s also worth remembering: of the six men to complete the Career Grand Slam, only four did so in the modern media era, where the pressure, spotlight, and scrutiny are exponentially greater. Rory didn’t just win four different majors — he did it while carrying the weight of expectation for over a decade.

Rory McIlroy has done something that only five others have accomplished in the modern era. He joins the pantheon. He made history.

Congratulations to Rory — one of the most well-rounded champions the game has ever seen.

Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If you enjoyed it, please share with your friends and family. If you have ideas for future newsletters or podcasts please let me know. Until then…

Yours in Golf History,

Connor T. Lewis