Ahead of the 2025 Masters, I wrote about Lee Elder and how in 1975 his appearance as the first Black man to play in the tournament transcended the sport. Late on Sunday afternoon with the shadows lengthening over the Augusta National Golf Club, I got another opportunity to witness the power of the Masters to transcend the game with the performance of Rory McIlroy, who earned his first Green jacket in a playoff victory over Justin Rose—becoming just the sixth player to win golf’s grand slam.
Like many of the 19.5 million viewers who tuned in for the final round over the course of the five-hour CBS telecast, I had prepared myself for an epic duel between McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau. But by the end of the day what I had witnessed was one man’s inner struggle to overcome his demons and past failures to conquer a goal that he had pursued most of his life. So focused and determined to win the Masters and complete the career Grand Slam, it seemed not to matter to McIlroy that DeChambeau was in the same group with him. Even Ali and Frazier talked to each other during their three epic fights. But this was ultimately McIlroy’s fight with himself.
