Rory McIlroy’s Pebble Beach win came with an unexpected gift

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — It was hard to know which opponent Rory McIlroy was chasing — the golf course, or sunset — but it was not hard to see the outcome. He was flying.

It was early on Tuesday evening at Pebble Beach, five days before McIlroy would be anointed winner of the biggest event of the nascent 2025 PGA Tour season, and the mood was light. McIlroy and caddie Harry Diamond were locked in the latest edition of a yearlong practice round competition. Diamond sets a score for McIlroy to reach. If McIlroy shoots the number or better, he wins; if he doesn’t, he loses.

On Tuesday evening, the number was four under, and McIlroy was in good position. He’d made three birdies before he stepped to the 14th tee box. They’d played two-thirds of the golf course in roughly two hours. An inviting closing stretch awaited in serene weather. Victory was secure.

McIlroy, Diamond and another longtime friend were some of the only souls left on the course as they reached the 14th, but the solitude did not seem to bother them. On a week when McIlroy would be asked in ways subtle and overt to carry the load for a Tour in an “inflection year” (their words), Tuesday afternoon is a time to worry about smaller things.

For the evening, at least, McIlroy could forget about giving — to the Tour, his fans, the media, everyone — and remember to receive.

So long as he moved quickly.

“He might get to four under … if we finish,” Diamond said, chuckling as he peered out on the horizon from the 14th tee box. “Otherwise, he’s gonna be really upset when it’s pitch-dark on the 18th.”

By the time Rory McIlroy reached the same spot on Sunday at Pebble Beach, everyone within 100 yards (and 100 miles) knew what was coming next.

On the 14th hole, McIlroy blasted a tee shot over a drooping Cypress tree to the right of the tee box and out of orbit. His drive apexed more than 100 feet in the air, falling safely in the center of the fairway what looked like half a mile away. He was left with a 7-iron into the green on the longest, most imposing hole on the course. His ball was the manifestation of his golf game’s physical might. He seemed to be pointing a finger into the chest of the longest-hitting golfers on the planet and wondering… Is that all?

“We both hit seven there,” said McIlroy’s playing partner Sepp Straka, who is hardly a lightweight. “His was 7-iron, and mine was 7-wood.”

A few minutes later, McIlroy walked off the 14th green with a grin. After disappointing pars on Friday and Saturday, McIlroy made an eagle to go up by four. He’d given Pebble Beach a signature moment. He’d given the PGA Tour a must-see finish. And he’d given the rest of the field someone to chase. In four short holes, McIlroy would be the third player of the last 30 years — after Tiger and Phil — to win 27 PGA Tour events.

The 14th hole was the turning point on Sunday, but this time it wasn’t a place of quiet respite, it was the centerpiece of a gloriously chaotic afternoon on the PGA Tour. McIlroy once again showed his prodigious physical gifts, and reminded the world that few players are more compelling television when they’re at their best.

There is some irony in this fact, considering McIlroy himself suggested his performance on Sunday was not, in fact, very compelling.

“The one that I’ll come back to is the U.S. Open because it’s the one that hurt the most,” he said Sunday. “I think the one thing that I did today really well is I didn’t get too flustered. It certainly feels a little more boring to me. It might look a little bit more boring on the golf course, but it’s definitely more effective.”

We will let the television numbers litigate the entertainment value of Rory’s performance, but the PGA Tour certainly isn’t complaining with Sunday’s outcome. After an offseason in the golf world filled with existential dread surrounding TV ratings and “entertainment products,” the Tour badly needed its first Signature Event in the continental U.S. to deliver the goods.

Sunday’s final round in Pebble Beach gave golf what it has sorely lacked in its recent ratings lull: a compelling tournament at a compelling golf course won by a very compelling golfer. That McIlroy’s providential ball-striking ability provided a handful of otherworldly highlights? Well, we’ll call that extra.

But most surprising of all was what Sunday’s final round gave to the winner. That was evident in the moments after the victory materialized, when a winless streak on U.S. soil dating back before last year’s U.S. Open finally ended. McIlroy handled the lead coolly, made decisions measuredly, and eventually won handily. That hasn’t often been the case in the last decade, and it was a welcome change.

“Ten years ago with a three-shot lead on the 18th hole here would I hit 5-iron off the tee? Probably not,” he said. “This is really about trying to get the best out of myself. That’s really it.”

The discussion has already started about what this win means for McIlroy. Does it portend something about his ability to “win the big one”? The Masters, where McIlroy can end a tortured tango with the career grand slam, lurks just two months away.

McIlroy lives with the majors in the back of his mind, and it will take all he has to give to climb back to the mountaintop again — Pinehurst showed us that. Thankfully, we saw much more recently that the relationship isn’t purely one-sided.

“I’ve had a few close calls at St. Andrews, which is another one of those important venues in our game, Augusta National being another one,” he said. “To be able to get a win on one of those iconic venues is awesome.”

When the story of Rory McIlroy’s career is eventually written, Sunday’s victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will not be in the first sentence or paragraph. In fact, it might not be in the story at all. And yet, if you were hoping to see the story of McIlroy’s career, it was right there on display at Pebble Beach. Both on Sunday afternoon, and on Tuesday evening.

Rory gave, and golf gave back.