The heartwarming note Sir Nick Faldo handed Rory McIlroy after Masters | Golf | Sport

As Rory McIlroy strutted from Butler Cabin towards the presentation ceremony, he was stopped along the way by Sir Nick Faldo. McIlroy had not only matched Sir Nick’s haul of six Major championships, but he also joined him in an exclusive fraternity to successfully defend the Green Jacket.

Only Faldo, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had won back-to-back Masters until McIlroy doubled up on Sunday, and the Englishman welcomed him to the club with a handwritten note that will likely take residence on a wall at his Florida mansion. “From the 1989 and 1990 champ to the 89th and 90th Masters champ,” it read, summing up the significance of what McIlroy had achieved.

The drama could never match the torturous climax here 12 months ago when he took patrons for a ride on the infamous Rory-coaster, but there were twists and turns aplenty.

The record-breaking six-shot lead he took into Saturday’s third round was eaten away by a hungry chasing pack, and he played his way out of the lead on Sunday with a gruesome double bogey at the fifth and another dropped shot at the sixth.

Justin Rose, like he did 12 months ago, stormed up the leaderboard, while Scottie Scheffler stalked menacingly. McIlroy’s margin for error was gone, but in his own words, he was “flawless” from 7-17.

Amen Corner has decided this tournament many times, and it did so again. The par-four 11th is the devil donned in Prada, a gorgeous vista that has lulled many challengers into oblivion. A four on the card allowed him to step onto the par-three 12th and take dead aim at his target.

A sawed-off nine-iron carried Rae’s Creek and the front bunker, setting up a birdie against the head. Another followed at the par-five 13th, where McIlroy had struggled off the tee all week but unleashed a 350-yard bomb to the fairway.

With a two-shot advantage, he plotted his way to the finish line. But this is Rory McIlroy we’re talking about; there had to be another scare, which arrived on the 18th tee when he sliced his drive into the woods and feared his ball had been lost.

Mercifully, he had a swing and a route to the green, and after finding the front bunker, he splashed out for a two-putt bogey and a one-shot win. There was no crumbling to the floor, and the celebrations could never live up to the raw, emotional scenes of 2025 as the world saw the ghosts of his failures banished.

But McIlroy will treasure this moment just as much because his parents, Gerry and Rosie, were in attendance after staying home in Holywood, Northern Ireland, last year.

The McIlroys sacrificed so much to give their boy a chance; Gerry worked multiple day jobs before Rosie slogged through night shifts at a 3M factory to rustle up the cash to fund their son’s pursuit of his dreams.

The completion of the career Grand Slam saw McIlroy fulfil all his wildest desires in the game, leaving him searching for his why.

But to see him share the joy with his parents, his wife, Erica, and their daughter Poppy, is to understand what fuels him these days. Sure, there is burnishing his ego and legacy, and he is hungry to ascend the list of all-time greats.

But after those years of his parents passing like Belfast-built ships in the night, and the struggles in his marriage that have been overcome, each win is a celebration of McIlroy’s perseverance and the people who have made him.