The ‘left field’ win that Rory McIlroy considered the most meaningful of his entire career until he won The Masters

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As a career Grand Slam winner, Rory McIlroy has an unbelievable amount of incredible victories to choose from as his best-ever.

This season alone, Rory McIlroy won the Irish Open, Pebble Beach, and an away Ryder Cup, and the most special victory of them all came when McIlroy won the Masters, the final major needed to complete the set. 

For almost every golfer, winning a major championship is the pinnacle of golf. It’s what everyone is striving for. But when asked in 2024, McIlroy didn’t name any of his major victories as his most meaningful win.

Instead, he chose a win in Australia from over a decade ago.

Rory McIlroy explained why the 2013 Australian Open was the most meaningful win of his career

Instead of his major victories, McIlroy picked the 2013 Australian Open as the most meaningful in his career, 

2013 was perhaps the worst of McIlroy’s career. He was winless on the PGA Tour, missed the cut at The Open Championship, and finished the PGA Tour season with a T59 at the BMW Championship. 

But the following season was arguably his best-ever, as he picked up two majors, winning the PGA Championship and The Open. The bridge between those two seasons? The 2013 Australian Open in Sydney. 

Speaking on the David Novak podcast in 2024, McIlroy was asked what his most meaningful win was, and explained why it was that victory Down Under. He replied: “This is out of left field, but the 2013 Australian Open.

“I had the worst season of my professional career in 2013. I changed equipment. I really struggled to make the switch. I just had an awful year. I didn’t have a win. I didn’t play well.

“And I went down to Australia, and I played with Adam Scott all four days. He was the reigning Masters champion, and I ended up beating him and the 72nd green. 

“That was just, of all the trophies that I have at home, that little Stonehaven Cup, the Australian Open trophy, it’s meaningful because I feel like that got me back on track to then go and have the great year in 2014 that I did, and go on to win two majors that year.

“So that Australian Open will always hold a special place in my heart.”

It’s not in the top five most memorable victories for McIlroy, but it set the stage for him to become one of the all-time greats!

Rory McIlroy’s 2014 season vs 2025

That Australian Open set up the best season of McIlroy’s career, until 2025 came along to rival it. But which year was better?

If you value majors above all else, then 2014 has yet to be topped. The Northern Irishman claimed his second PGA Championship and his first Open Championship with wins at Valhalla and Royal Liverpool.

But this year, he claimed the biggest prize of them all, a Green Jacket to complete the career Grand Slam at Augusta National. McIlroy won four tournaments at iconic events in 2025. His season was more about where he won than how much he won. 

If he could pick out four victories before the season, then the Masters, the Players, Pebble Beach, and the Irish Open may well have been the four, excluding his home Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

McIlroy also had four wins in 2014, picking up a victory at the BMW PGA Championship and the Bridgestone Invitational in addition to his majors. He also had more top-fives and top-tens omn the year.

But while McIlroy won the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, the away Ryder Cup win in New York in 2025 may have been enough to give this year the edge, especially with how McIlroy was at the center of it all, facing the full force of the fan abuse at Bethpage Black.