FLOURTOWN, PA. — Rory McIlroy fully understands that his journey to the 2025 Masters title and golf immortality made waves both inside and outside the golf world. He acknowledged as much when he returned to the public eye at the Zurich Classic last month.
“I think people can see themselves in the struggle at times, and everything that you sort of try to put into getting the best out of yourself in that journey,” McIlroy said in New Orleans. “I think people watching someone finally get it done, something they’ve been trying to do for a decade plus, I think it resonated with a lot of people.”
McIlroy’s 14-year odyssey from his 2011 Masters collapse to donning the green jacket was a story about relentless belief, perseverance and conquering one’s own mind. His relatability as a human being has made him a fan favorite over the years.
But while some saw themselves in McIlroy’s struggle to achieve his dreams, a different part of his Masters win resonated with me. An unseen part of his celebration. Something that happened days and miles away from Augusta National.
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Like McIlroy, I am an only child blessed with two hard-working parents who did everything they could to put me on their shoulders and boost me closer to my dreams.
When I was growing up, my dad built cell towers. He’d spend his weekdays three hours away working and come home on the weekends to coach my baseball teams, play golf with me and teach me how to drive. My mom, a special ed teacher, spent her off-work hours shuttling me to practices and games. Untold money and time went into my youth sports career. The same went into expanding my world view. I’ve been lucky to travel the world — Uganda, Zimbabwe, Australia, to name a few — because my parents wanted that for me.
As I approached college, they always made it clear that I’d have their support, financial and otherwise, no matter my pursuit. As long as I did the work, they’d be there to keep propping me up until I didn’t need it. They helped me get my undergraduate degree, a Masters and helped pay my rent in Boston when I was making just $10 an hour covering prep sports for the Boston Globe.
McIlroy’s parents, Gerry and Rosie, supported their only child in a similar way. Rosie worked on an assembly line at a 3M plant. Gerry managed a golf club locker room and tended bar. Rory has talked about how seldom his parents saw each other, as they worked tirelessly to give their son a chance to live his dream.
The financial burden of elite amateur golf is well known. Rory played all around the globe and his parents did everything possible to make sure he could, to make sure a gift wasn’t wasted and that a passion could be pursued.
When McIlroy won the Masters and crumbled onto the green, he released a decade’s worth of anguish. Observers from all walks empathized with a man who had finally achieved a lifelong dream.
But something was missing from McIlroy’s Augusta National triumph. There was a moment many were eager to witness that didn’t transpire. Gerry and Rosie were at home watching their son achieve his lifelong dream on TV. An embrace — like the one Earl Woods gave Tiger after he won the 1997 Masters — wouldn’t occur in front of an audience of millions.
But that doesn’t mean Rosie and Gerry weren’t there with him as he soaked in his stirring triumph. There’s a different connection an only child has to their parents. You don’t spend your youth with siblings. When you’re not at school, at practice or with friends, you’re spending time with your parents. And so, even when you’ve become an adult and have a life and triumphs and failures of your own, their presence is always there.
After McIlroy put on his new green coat and gave an emotional speech with motivational words for his daughter, Poppy, he hopped on the back of a cart and asked for his phone.
“I need to call my parents,” McIlroy said in a video released after the win.
A few days later, Rory, his wife, Erica, and Poppy landed in Belfast to celebrate the win with Gerry and Rosie. It was a moment for a mother, father and their only child to share a triumph they’d all worked toward and dreamed about. A moment more priceless than the green coat that made it possible.
“With my dad, like, I never get that emotional with my dad,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club. “It was great. It was great to see him. Then, when I saw my mom, yeah, we were both a mess for a few minutes.
“Look, as an only child, I have a bond. I’m lucky, and I know a lot of people feel this, that they have a close bond with their parents, but I think as time goes on and I’m getting a little older, I realize that they’re not going to be around forever. It means even more that they were still around to be able to see me complete the slam and fulfill those dreams.”
Those words hit home.
Unlike McIlroy, I can’t hit a golf ball 350 yards. Not even close. But much like McIlroy and I’m sure many others, I’m the only child blessed with a rare bond with two parents who did everything to make sure I could have the best life possible. I think about the countless hours my dad spent playing and coaching me after long weeks of work, the trips my mom took me on around the world and the endless support they’ve shown me as I chased a dream to scribble words about sports on a page.
As McIlroy talked about his moment with Rosie and Gerry, I thought about the wins I celebrated with my dad before he passed away and the ones I’m lucky enough to still share with my mom.
Seeing Rory embrace his parents at Augusta National would have been a memorable TV moment. But in some ways, it’s more fitting that their time came miles away from Augusta National — a memory just for them. It was the culmination of a journey started long before Rory McIlroy was Rory McIlroy. When he was just a boy from Holywood with a sweet swing, big dreams and two parents willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.
Perhaps Rosie and Gerry will be at Quail Hollow Club next week — or as Jordan Spieth calls it, “Rory McIlroy Country Club” — for the PGA Championship. Or maybe they’ll be at home watching as their son chases major No. 6.
Either way, in person or otherwise, they’ll be there with McIlroy as he continues his assault on golf history. Parents like Rosie and Gerry (and mine) always are. That’s their true gift.
Josh Schrock
Golf.com Editor
Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf.com. Before joining GOLF, Josh was the Chicago Bears insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO alum, Josh spends his free time hiking with his wife and dog, thinking of how the Ducks will break his heart again, and trying to become semi-proficient at chipping. A true romantic for golf, Josh will never stop trying to break 90 and never lose faith that Rory McIlroy’s major drought will end (updated: he did it). Josh Schrock can be reached at [email protected].
