Friends and colleagues of Rory McIlroy have hailed his career Grand Slam as “one of the greatest days in sport” – as the golfer’s psychologist revealed how he overcame an 11-year wait for another major.
The Northern Irishman, 35, secured victory at the Masters to become only the sixth man to have won all four of golf’s major championships.
McIlroy had not won a major since the 2014 US PGA Championship – and his victory at Augusta sparked emotional and jubilant scenes.
Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley spoke to The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee about McIlroy’s historic victory, saying: “I think the human element is what brought people into it.”
He added: “They all know the trials and tribulations Rory’s had in the last couple of years, the near misses and the opportunities he’s let slip through his fingers.
“Like a Hollywood movie, everyone loves a redemption story.
“It was quite extraordinary… it was sport at its best.”
McGinley said McIlroy’s win “had everything” and was “up there with one of the greatest days in sport I’ve ever seen”.
‘I was weeping’
Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt also reflected on the triumph, speaking to Mark Austin on Sky News’s The News Hour.
Nesbitt said: “I couldn’t be happier for anyone… I felt personally just overjoyed, I was weeping.”
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He told Sky News he received a text from actor Jamie Dornan “saying he’s never woken up happier, and he’s got three daughters”.
Nesbitt described how important McIlroy’s win was for their shared home country, saying: “Rory was always a beacon of hope, even though he was a young boy, because we looked for those things if Northern Ireland was to evolve.
“He seemed kind of emblematic of change, you know, and someone that put a smile on the faces of everyone here, everyone in Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland today would have woken up happy and proud.”
How McIlroy developed ‘resilience’
“You never win the way you dream it,” renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella told Sky News, speaking about McIlroy’s victory.
Rotella was McIlroy’s psychologist and they spoke throughout the tournament.
“Everyone’s talking about his resilience, that’s something he’s worked really hard to develop,” Rotella said.
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McIlroy suffered an 11-year drought in major tournaments, coming close but falling at the last hurdle a number of times before his Masters victory.
Rotella said: “He’s had to really accept that no matter how good you get at golf, no matter how talented you are, you’re going to miss a lot of shots.
“We talk a lot about if you love golf, you’ve got to love that it’s a game of mistakes.”
Ahead of the tournament, Rotella said he sent McIlroy a “long text” that they would sit down and discuss after each day in the tournament.
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Rotella added: “The bottom line is we knew this was going to be a challenging week, and that he was going to be nervous.
“It’s about: ‘Okay, most of the great stories in sports histories have been comeback stories, so you’ve set yourself up for a comeback story, and this is just a chapter in your story.’
“I wasn’t worried at all, my last words to him before he went to the course, we had a nice embrace, and I said: ‘Go do what you know how to do’.”
