Brandel Chamblee gives his controversial opinion about The Masters which some will think is ‘sacrilegious’

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With the Ryder Cup still to come, it is hard to look past The Masters for the best event of the year as Rory McIlroy managed to complete the Career Grand Slam at long last.

It really felt as if the 2025 Masters had everything. Rory McIlroy won and lost the event on several occasions on Sunday alone. It is easy to forget that it appeared that he played himself out of contention with two double bogeys late on Thursday, before firing 66s over the next two rounds.

However, McIlroy was not done making double bogeys for the week. He lost the lead on Sunday to Bryson DeChambeau shortly after making a six on the first hole. And few will ever forget the wedge shot he put in Rae’s Creek on 13 when he appeared to have the green jacket within his grasp.

Ultimately, McIlroy needed to come through a playoff with Justin Rose to win. Rose produced one of Augusta National’s great final rounds to put himself in the mix. He also became only the second person after Ben Hogan to lose two Masters playoffs.

Brandel Chamblee makes controversial Masters statement

Golf fans could almost see the weight being lifted off McIlroy’s shoulders after he holed the putt which secured sporting immortality.

And with that, Brandel Chamblee has told Straight Facts Homie that he would be controversial and suggest that the 2025 Masters was the greatest of all-time.

“I thought it was the best ever. Now there are a lot of people out there who go ‘that’s sacrilegious, Jack ’86’. Jack ’86 was certainly unbelievable, but it was the exclamation point on the greatest major championship career of all-time. It didn’t change the way we view Jack Nicklaus in any way. It was a nostalgic, great moment, was what it was,” he said.

“’75 was Jack pitting against the best two players in that era in Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. So you could say ’75, you could say ’86, you could say ’97, you could even make an argument for 2001 because Tiger Woods won it and it was the fourth major in a row. You could put all of those in there, and then you could then put Tiger 2019.

“To me it goes, this one, Rory, because he completes the Career Grand Slam after not winning a major championship for a decade plus. Then it goes Tiger Woods because it was Tiger Woods and he also, similarly, hadn’t won a major championship in a decade plus. But that was just a nice nostalgic moment. It was a reminder of just how great Tiger Woods was.

“This was a guy who just couldn’t get it done and everybody was so familiar with his failures. And in particular, his failures at Augusta National. And everybody loved Rory. I know he’s done some controversial things at times and says some things, but he always walks them back. He’s always gracious. He’s much more fun to watch him play golf, because he’s everywhere and all over the place and you don’t know what’s going to happen with him. He’s got a little Jordan Spieth in him, a little Rory McIlroy in him and a little Tiger Woods in him.

“And you put all that together, and I think that final picture of him on his knees on the green crying and celebrating all at once summed it up beautifully. So I’m with you, if it’s not your number one, it’s certainly got to be on everybody’s Mount Rushmore. If it’s not, I want to hear why it’s not.”

Rory McIlroy’s career record at The Masters

What is slightly strange about McIlroy’s career record at The Masters was that he did not have too many genuine opportunities to win before 2025.

Obviously, many will remember what happened in 2011 when McIlroy threw away a four-shot lead with one round to go. Meanwhile, he finished second in 2022 – though was some way adrift of Scottie Scheffler.

So not only was he dealing with the weight of expectation, but he also did not have the experience of being in contention coming down the stretch on Sunday.

Few could have imagined just how many times he would stumble in the last round this year. It is hard to imagine what he would have done had he ended up falling short.

But McIlroy produced perhaps the gutsiest performance of his career to get across the line.

The wins for Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods may mean more to some. But it is hard to argue with Chamblee’s view that McIlroy’s triumph was the very best.