PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Does Rory McIlroy think about winning the 2025 Masters every day?
“Only when I’m reminded,” he said during his pre-tournament interview ahead of his title defense of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
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On Tuesday, the Northern Irishman will take a trip down memory lane as he said he was headed over to the house of CBS’s Jim Nantz to do a reflective interview on his sudden-death victory for his fifth career major, first in nearly 11 years and completion of the career Grand Slam.
One of the shots he will undoubtedly regale friends with for the rest of his life is the rope-hooked 7-iron he hit for his second shot around the trees at the par-5 15th at Augusta National in the final round, arguably the signature shot of the tournament, which stopped inside 10 feet from the hole. Asked if he had given one of his 14 clubs in the bag from his victory to Augusta National to commemorate its achievement as champions traditionally do, McIlroy said, “I didn’t realize this, but I flew back the day after on the Monday and I basically didn’t see my golf clubs since like post the playoff, and I saw that my 7-iron was missing. I was like, that’s a pretty important club.”
It turned out that McIlroy’s business manager, Sean O’Flaherty, had already given it to Augusta National.
“He just didn’t tell me,” McIlroy said. “If there was one I was going to give the club, it was probably going to be that one.”
Rory McIlroy plays from the fairway on the 15th green during the third round of the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
McIlroy stuck a new 7-iron in play when he next teed it up at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
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He also was asked which was more difficult: winning the Masters or winning a road Ryder Cup, which Team Europe pulled off at Bethpage Black in late September?
“I think they were different,” McIlroy said. “The Masters was more me against myself and the Ryder Cup was me against 50,000 New Yorkers.”
Safe to say that as McIlroy makes his PGA Tour debut this week, the reminders of McIlroy’s Masters moment are just beginning in the lead-up to his title defense. McIlroy said that, as great as achieving a childhood goal has been, he’s focused on the future.
“It’s done, it’s wonderful, I’m happy that it’s over in a way, but I want to move on and I’ve got more goals and there’s more things I want to try to accomplish and achieve,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Rory McIlroy’s Masters 7-iron: The surprising story of its fate