Rory McIlroy can now finally call himself a winner of The Masters, and indeed a winner of the career Grand Slam.
Jack Nicklaus thinks more good golf is coming from McIlroy, who brought an end to his major championship drought at Augusta National.
McIlroy was attempting the career Grand Slam – winning all four major championships – for the 11th time this week at The Masters.
And Justin Rose was grateful to share in McIlroy’s history in Georgia, where he finally achieved that milestone.
The duo were forced into a playoff at Augusta, starting at the 18th hole, having finished their tournaments on 11-under.
Ryan Lavner shares ‘credible theory’ that luck helped Rory McIlroy win The Masters
McIlroy had previously missed a putt to win The Masters, but made no mistake on the first hole of the playoff to clinch a birdie and the green jacket.
There has, however, now been a suggestion of the champion being lucky at Augusta, with Ryan Lavner saying on the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav: “He has been by far the best player on the PGA Tour in 2025 and I think that was beneficial as well but I also think that luck plays a big part in this.
“The number of times that he drove into the trees and was able to escape it. Now, they were incredible recovery shots out of the trees.
“Sometimes he was hooking them, sometimes he was cutting them, sometimes they were high, sometimes they were low. Every single time he had an out.
“And I had an interesting theory posited to me. Did the tree loss that Augusta National sustained in the hurricane, those would have been the tallest trees, did that clear the way and thin out some of those heavily wooded areas to allow these recovery shots?
“Did they help Rory McIlroy? Certainly, I think it’s at least a credible theory. The ball staying up on 11. Being able to make four double bogeys and still coming away with the victory.
“There is a confluence of events as to why Rory McIlroy won this major championship, but I do think luck played a big portion as well.”
Rex Hoggard disagrees with Ryan Lavner about Rory McIlroy’s luck at Augusta
McIlroy did often find himself among the trees and indeed in the bunkers during his four rounds at the iconic course.
At the same time, however, The Masters once again proved just how much of a role even the finest of margins can play at Augusta.
READ MORE: Bryson DeChambeau deserves huge praise for what he did on the eve of the final round of The Masters
McIlroy played superbly for the most part, and a few glaring errors aside, an argument could be made that he was even unlucky as opposed to lucky with some of his efforts.
He was often his own worst enemy throughout the week, which is a role that his final round partner Bryson DeChambeau should have played but didn’t.
Continuing the discussion on the trees, however, Rex Hoggard was in disagreement with Lavner about McIlroy’s efforts in that regard.
“As far as the trees, I am not buying that one,” said Hoggard. “Everyone else was playing from the same trees and I didn’t see anyone else pulling off the magic acts that he did.
“Sometimes it is your week and you are going to end up with windows where others don’t have windows.”
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