Bizarre moment at the Crown Australian Open: Rory McIlroy finds his ball under a banana peel and walks away with a double bogey.
Tag: Rory McIlroy
Tight race in Melbourne: Neergard-Petersen leads at the Crown Australian Open. Bernd Wiesberger is tied with Rory McIlroy.
Golf around Melbourne is more than just drives in Down Under – it’s a whole new dimension of the game.
From McIlroy’s phone snatch to Marcel Siem’s drunken course records – we look back at golf’s most bizarre moments of 2025.
Rory McIlroy has become the first player to qualify for Team Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup in Bethpage Black. The Northern Irishman will celebrate his eighth consecutive appearance and will once again play a key role under captain Luke Donald. With four wins this season and an impressive Ryder Cup track record, McIlroy underscores his importance to Europe.
Rory McIlroy: The Hard Road to Qualification
Rory McIlroy secured his Ryder Cup spot early through outstanding performances on the PGA Tour. Thanks to the European Points List system, which ranks players based on DP World Tour and co-sanctioned event results – he quickly rose to the top. His four season victories, including his Masters triumph at Augusta, made him the undisputed number one. For McIlroy, this qualification confirms not just his consistency but also his unwavering class at the highest level.
The Ryder Cup: A Special Challenge
For Rory McIlroy, an eighth Ryder Cup appearance represents both a special honor and a significant responsibility. As the team’s most experienced player under captain Luke Donald, he’ll take a leadership role at Bethpage Black. The course’s demanding architecture and the away-game atmosphere present one of golf’s toughest challenges.
McIlroy’s record speaks for itself: Five wins in seven appearances demonstrate his reliability in this event. Whether in Foursomes, Fourballs, or Singles, he consistently delivers under pressure. But his value extends beyond play – as a bridge between veterans and rookies, he strengthens team cohesion and assists Donald with tactical decisions. This combination of competitive excellence and leadership makes McIlroy indispensable for Europe’s New York campaign.
The third round of the US Open 2025 was disappointing for Rory McIlroy. With a round of 74, the Northern Irishman dropped back to tied 49th place. Although he faced the press after the round, his statements showed visible frustration, not only with his game, but also in his dealings with the media.
US Open 2025: A tired Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy was brief after his round on Saturday: He described his US Open in two words – “pretty average” – and when asked if he hadn’t hoped for more, he replied tersely “I was hoping to play better, but I didn’t.” To a certain extent, he puts this down to his Masters victory. After that he had run out of steam a little and was struggling with a lack of motivation. According to him, however, the new driver was responsible for this week’s performance.
He only just made the cut on Friday – thanks to a late birdie finish – but that didn’t seem to bother him much: “Yeah, it’s funny, like it’s much easier being on the cut line when you don’t really care if you’re here for the weekend or not.” However, he made it clear that he wasn’t enjoying the tournament: McIlroy said he was most looking forward to “hopefully a round in under four and a half hours and get out of here.”
Rory McIlroy distances himself from the press
McIlroy is also reserved in his dealings with the media. After his Masters victory, he frequently turned down press inquiries, including at the US Open. One of the reasons for this was a leaked driver test at the PGA Championship in which his club failed. McIlroy emphasized that this should have remained confidential. He explained that he was frustrated by the media landscape and did not feel obliged to give interviews. “ I feel like I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do”, he said.
Rory McIlroy addresses his decision to skip post-round media more often. pic.twitter.com/46eYEmZr8y
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 14, 2025
Almost the entire elite of the PGA Tour will be competing in this week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Workday in Muirfield Village. However, one particularly prominent name is missing from the list of participants: Rory McIlroy has opted out of the signature event organized by Jack Nicklaus. The tournament host is surprised that McIlroy did not inform him in advance, but does not hold it against the Northern Irishman.
Jack Nicklaus: “It’s just his call”
Rory McIlroy recently realigned his tournament calendar: Less focus on the USA, but more starts at national Open tournaments around the globe. As he has committed to the Canadian Open next week, followed by the US Open, McIlroy is taking a break from the Memorial Tournament. It is already the third signature event of the season that he has skipped. Instead, he has played a number of tournaments with a rather weaker field of participants, giving them additional attention and is now making more international appearances.
Jack Nicklaus, host of the Memorial Tournament, self-confessed Rory fan and long-time supporter of the Northern Irishman, only found out about his withdrawal in the middle of last week. As he admitted at the pre-tournament press conference, he was a little caught off guard by the news: ““Yeah, it surprised me,” Nicklaus said. “But guys have got schedules and got things they do. And I haven’t talked to him for him to tell me why or why not. It’s just his call.”
Even though Nicklaus would have been delighted to welcome McIlroy to Muirfield Village, he was understanding: “I don’t hold anything against Rory for that. He did what he likes to play. I know he likes to play so many in a row. He likes to play the week before a U.S. Open. And so he, that’s what he’s doing. So, you know, I really don’t have a comment on it. It’s very difficult, very difficult. I mean, I’m a big Rory fan, I always have been. I’m sure that I will remain that way. I just, I was a little surprised, yes.”
Rory McIlroy spoke big words about a more global future for golf at the start of 2024 – now he is putting his money where his mouth is. His tournament calendar for 2025 looks much more international than in previous years. The Northern Irishman wants to play less in the USA and focus more on tournaments that have fallen into oblivion for many professionals, especially national Opens with a long history.
Rory McIlroy: From Oakmont to Portrush
Right at the start of the summer, the first of several national championships gets underway: Rory McIlroy plays the Canadian Open, followed by the U.S. Open in Oakmont as the third major. The Travelers Championship in Connecticut is then on the agenda before things get more international – the Scottish Open on traditional links soil, followed by the Open Championship in July. However, the tournament at Royal Portrush is closer to a home game than almost any other.
This will be followed by the hot phase of the FedEx Cup play-offs in the USA. It remains to be seen whether Rory McIlroy will play all three stages. He already hinted in advance that he might miss the first event in Memphis. After that, his focus will clearly shift back towards Europe and Asia.
Finale in Asia and Australia?
September takes McIlroy to the Irish Open at the K Club – another building block in his “National Open” strategy. The flagship event of the DP World Tour, the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth, follows immediately afterwards. After that, he will probably be part of the European Ryder Cup team. And then comes a special highlight: McIlroy’s first participation in the DP World India Championship in New Delhi – a completely new tournament that will be held for the first time in 2025.
The DP World Tour Playoffs will follow in November and December – and then another National Open date: the Australian Open at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Rory McIlroy returns to a place where he has not played for over a decade – this time with a two-year contract in his pocket. The tournaments in India and Australia are part of the “Back 9” phase of the DP World Tour and lead directly to the final in Dubai, which McIlroy also plans to play in.
Rory McIlroy’s schedule moving forward: National Open National Open (Oakmont 😉) Travelers National Open (His national) Open Championship FedEx Playoffs National Open (Irish) DPWT Flagship Ryder Cup India Championship (brand new) DPWT Playoffs National Open (Aussie) — Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) May 21, 2025
The Masters Tournament 2025 is set to finish this Sunday at the iconic Augusta National Golf Club, where golf’s elite will compete for the coveted green jacket. Tournament favorite Rory McIlroy makes another attempt to complete his career Grand Slam, but Bryson DeChambeau seeks for the Green Jacket himself.
Golf fans worldwide are eagerly anticipating what promises to be another thrilling chapter in Masters history.
Tee Times The Masters Tournament 2024 Runde X
| Tee | Time | Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:40 | Brian Campbell | |
| 1 | 9:50 | Hideki Matsuyama | Akshay Bhatia |
| 1 | 10:00 | Justin Thomas | Min Woo Lee |
| 1 | 10:10 | Brian Harman | J.J. Spaun |
| 1 | 10:20 | Patrick Cantlay | Wyndham Clark |
| 1 | 10:30 | Danny Willett | J. T. Poston |
| 1 | 10:40 | Sam Burns | Stephan Jaeger |
| 1 | 11:00 | Matt Fitzpatrick | Nick Taylor |
| 1 | 11:10 | Tom Kim | Charl Schwartzel |
| 1 | 11:20 | Davis Riley | Tommy Fleetwood |
| 1 | 11:30 | Daniel Berger | Bubba Watson |
| 1 | 11:40 | Aaron Rai | Sahith Theegala |
| 1 | 11:50 | Michael Kim | Denny McCarthy |
| 1 | 12:00 | Maverick McNealy | Harris English |
| 1 | 12:20 | Joaquín Niemann | Jon Rahm |
| 1 | 12:30 | Byeong Hun An | Rasmus Højgaard |
| 1 | 12:40 | Jordan Spieth | Max Greyserman |
| 1 | 12:50 | Tyrrell Hatton | Matt McCarty |
| 1 | 13:00 | Davis Thompson | Tom Hoge |
| 1 | 13:10 | Collin Morikawa | Viktor Hovland |
| 1 | 13:20 | Sungjae Im | Max Homa |
| 1 | 13:40 | Nicolas Echavarria | Xander Schauffele |
| 1 | 13:50 | Justin Rose | Zach Johnson |
| 1 | 14:00 | Scottie Scheffler | Shane Lowry |
| 1 | 14:10 | Ludvig Åberg | Jason Day |
| 1 | 14:20 | Corey Conners | Patrick Reed |
| 1 | 14:30 | Rory McIlroy | Bryson DeChambeau |
A Masters champion can’t afford to make any mistakes, there has not been a green jacket with more than one double bogey – after Rory McIlroy’s performance on the back nine in the first round of the Masters Tournament 2025, the statisticians were quick to show that the tournament was actually over for the Northern Irishman. But they didn’t do the math with Rory McIlroy.
The Masters Tournament: Rory McIlroy conquers Amen Corner
He took it easy on the front nine, played a birdie on hole 2, but otherwise made no mistakes in the slightly windy conditions. “I tried not to push too hard from the start,” he explained after his round. “I wanted the round to come to me.” By hole 10, the round had arrived. After a perfectly placed second shot, the birdie on the par-4 was a formality and the start of an outstanding section. McIlroy repeated his magic shot on hole 11, but left himself a slightly longer putt for birdie. He also converted it.
A Rory McIlroy highlight on No. 10. He moves to two under par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/FJ2RC7ojSC — The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2025
The highlight then came at the exit of Amen Corner: on 13, he played his second shot out of the pine needles, which was not uncommon on Friday, as he found himself there more often. McIlroy hit only 54 percent of the fairways, but 76 percent of the greens. From his position on 13, McIlroy was unable to judge whether the ball would land on the green or in Rae’s Creek. All the greater the relief when his shot rolled to within 9 ft of the flag. McIlroy converted for eagle and found himself back in the top five of the leaderboard, within reach of leader Justin Rose and his rival Bryson DeChambeau.
Roaring into contention. McIlroy eagles No. 13 and is now tied for fourth. #themasters pic.twitter.com/1i65HRkd33 — The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2025
Where he had suffered a bitter double bogey the day before, McIlroy won another shot and finished the round without making any mistakes. “I had to remind myself that I played pretty well yesterday,” said the 35-year-old about the mindset with which he started the day. “I played 16 pretty good holes and two not so good ones.” His round of 66 was the best round of the day at the time and he was just two shots off the leader Justin Rose.