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The 2011 Masters: Rory McIlroy's "Worst Day in Golf"
Tears would flow during a phone call with his parents the following morning, but at his press conference, McIlroy was upbeat.
“I’m very disappointed at the minute, and I’m sure I will be for the next few days, but I’ll get over it,” he said.
“I was leading this golf tournament with nine holes to go, and I just unraveled … It’s a Sunday at a major, what it can do.”
“This is my first experience at it, and hopefully the next time I’m in this position I’ll be able to handle it a little better. I didn’t handle it particularly well today obviously, but it was a character-building day … I’ll come out stronger for it.”
Once again, McIlroy would be proven right.
Just eight weeks later in June, McIlroy rampaged to an eight-shot victory at the US Open. Records tumbled in his wake at Congressional, as he shot a tournament record 16-under 268 to become the youngest major winner since Tiger Woods at The Masters in 1997.
The historic victory kickstarted a golden era for McIlroy. After coasting to another eight-shot win at the PGA Championship in 2012, McIlroy became only the third golfer since 1934 to win three majors by the age of 25 with triumph at the 2014 Open Championship.
Before the year was out, he would add his fourth major title with another PGA Championship win.
And much of it was owed to that fateful afternoon at Augusta. In an interview with the BBC in 2015, McIlroy dubbed it “the most important day” of his career.
“If I had not had the whole unravelling, if I had just made a couple of bogeys coming down the stretch and lost by one, I would not have learned as much.
Luckily, it did not take me long to get into a position like that again when I was leading a major and I was able to get over the line quite comfortably. It was a huge learning curve for me and I needed it, and thankfully I have been able to move on to bigger and better things.
Looking back on what happened in 2011, it doesn’t seem as bad when you have four majors on your mantelpiece.”
Despite seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 Masters outings, the trophy remains the only thing separating McIlroy from joining the ranks of golf immortals to have completed golf’s career grand slam of all four majors in the modern era: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.
A runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler last year marked McIlroy’s best finish at Augusta, yet arguably 2011 remains the closest he has ever been to victory. A slow start in 2022 meant McIlroy had begun Sunday’s deciding round 10 shots adrift of the American, who teed off for his final hole with a five-shot lead despite McIlroy’s brilliant 64 finish.
At 33 years old, time is still on his side. Though 2022 extended his major drought to eight years, it featured arguably his best golf since that golden season in 2014.
And as McIlroy knows better than most, things can change quickly at Augusta National.
The 2011 Masters: Rory McIlroy's "Worst Day in Golf"
Tears would flow during a phone call with his parents the following morning, but at his press conference, McIlroy was upbeat.
“I’m very disappointed at the minute, and I’m sure I will be for the next few days, but I’ll get over it,” he said.
“I was leading this golf tournament with nine holes to go, and I just unraveled … It’s a Sunday at a major, what it can do.”
“This is my first experience at it, and hopefully the next time I’m in this position I’ll be able to handle it a little better. I didn’t handle it particularly well today obviously, but it was a character-building day … I’ll come out stronger for it.”
Once again, McIlroy would be proven right.
Just eight weeks later in June, McIlroy rampaged to an eight-shot victory at the US Open. Records tumbled in his wake at Congressional, as he shot a tournament record 16-under 268 to become the youngest major winner since Tiger Woods at The Masters in 1997.
The historic victory kickstarted a golden era for McIlroy. After coasting to another eight-shot win at the PGA Championship in 2012, McIlroy became only the third golfer since 1934 to win three majors by the age of 25 with triumph at the 2014 Open Championship.
Before the year was out, he would add his fourth major title with another PGA Championship win.
And much of it was owed to that fateful afternoon at Augusta. In an interview with the BBC in 2015, McIlroy dubbed it “the most important day” of his career.
“If I had not had the whole unravelling, if I had just made a couple of bogeys coming down the stretch and lost by one, I would not have learned as much.
Luckily, it did not take me long to get into a position like that again when I was leading a major and I was able to get over the line quite comfortably. It was a huge learning curve for me and I needed it, and thankfully I have been able to move on to bigger and better things.
Looking back on what happened in 2011, it doesn’t seem as bad when you have four majors on your mantelpiece.”
Despite seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 Masters outings, the trophy remains the only thing separating McIlroy from joining the ranks of golf immortals to have completed golf’s career grand slam of all four majors in the modern era: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.
A runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler last year marked McIlroy’s best finish at Augusta, yet arguably 2011 remains the closest he has ever been to victory. A slow start in 2022 meant McIlroy had begun Sunday’s deciding round 10 shots adrift of the American, who teed off for his final hole with a five-shot lead despite McIlroy’s brilliant 64 finish.
At 33 years old, time is still on his side. Though 2022 extended his major drought to eight years, it featured arguably his best golf since that golden season in 2014.
And as McIlroy knows better than most, things can change quickly at Augusta National.
I think Rory's collapse at the 2011 Masters was a blessing in disguise for him. If he hadn't blown it like that, we might've never seen his dominance years later. It's crazy to think about how much more pressure and expectation there is now that he's got those four majors on his resume 
. And honestly, who wouldn't want to see him win another major? He's still only 33 and has a ton of golf left in him 
This 2011 Masters debacle might have been a low point for Rory McIlroy, but it ended up being a turning point in his career. And we all know what they say about the best-laid plans...
! Losing by a landslide like that was supposed to be his worst day in golf 
, but he turned it into a blessing in disguise 
. That experience probably made him more determined than ever to crush it at majors 
. Fast forward to today, and I think McIlroy still has the potential to achieve that career grand slam 
... we just gotta keep watching! 
#GolfSuperstar #RoryMcIlroy #CareerGrandSlam
. i mean rory mcilroy was just so young when he had that epic meltdown at the 2011 masters, but he turned it into a goldmine of experience and learning 
.
remember that cringeworthy press conference in 2011 where he's trying to play it cool but you can tell he's still reeling from his meltdown 
anyway, after a few ups and downs (literally), he somehow manages to turn it around and becomes the golden boy of golf 
four majors under his belt? nice work, Rory! but for real though, how long is this going to last? we all know Augusta National has a way of humbling even the best of them 
and honestly, it was a total blessing in disguise for his career! 
. eight-shot victories at the US Open and PGA Championship in 2012? four major wins by age 25? 
. if he'd just played it safe and made some bogeys, would we have seen that fire in his belly that propelled him to greatness? 
. If he hadn't had that disastrous round, who knows when we'd have seen him win four majors? The experience clearly made him stronger and more focused for his future wins 
He learned from it and went on to achieve incredible things in golf 
. But what do you guys think? Did he ever live down the embarrassment of that round? 
he's still crushing it after all these years and his mental game is insane 
. Plus, 8-shot wins aren't that hard to come by, right? 
.
. and yeah, 2022 wasn't bad either 
and it's crazy to think how far he's come since then! 