Masters Sunday: A day so great, we may never experience one like it again

We may never experience a day of golf like that ever again.

It may be depressing, but it's true. The chances of a future major championship trumping Rory McIlroy's Masters victory are slim.

The final day of the 2025 Masters had everything, from the world's best players hitting jaw-dropping shots - both good and bad - on the game's biggest stage, to the numerous lead changes, near collapses, and even a playoff finish.

Focusing only on the golf, Sunday can easily be considered one of the best days at Augusta National in years. McIlroy and an exceptional supporting cast played out a script so unpredictable that if you looked away for more than a few minutes, you likely missed something big.

The day started with a gripping duel between McIlroy and his newest rival, Bryson DeChambeau, who bested McIlroy in their first clash at the 2024 U.S. Open.

Those early lead changes set the tone for what would unfold. After DeChambeau fell off the pace, McIlroy was left alone at the top and, at one point, had a four-shot lead and was heading toward a runaway victory.

But that's when McIlroy's stiffest competition - himself - took over.

The 13th hole was the turning point. Instead of keeping his foot on the gas, McIlroy's strategy changed to protect his lead. During an effort to play it safe, he hit possibly the worst shot of his career, given the circumstances - a routine wedge from 86 yards that ended up in Rae's Creek instead of landing the ball safely on the green with the roughly 20 yards of room he had left of the pin.

The mistake led to his fourth double-bogey of the tournament, which he followed up with another dropped shot on the 14th, all while his European Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose couldn't stop making birdies.

With his lead gone, McIlroy proceeded to hit the best shot of his career into the 15th green - one Jim Nantz called "the shot of a lifetime" - to regain his position atop the leaderboard.

His birdie on 17 and a bogey on 18 put McIlroy into a playoff, the first at the Masters since 2017. His one-hole showdown with Rose was the final act of an unforgettable day at Augusta.

When the Northern Irishman fell to his knees and looked to the sky after his winning putt hit the bottom of the cup, you could see the weight of the world lift off his shoulders. His decade-long major championship drought was over, and the demons he faced at Augusta were vanquished.

There have been incredible - borderline unbelievable - achievements in recent years that are perhaps bigger than McIlroy's feat. Tiger Woods' 2019 Masters victory is an obvious one, as is Phil Mickelson's win at the 2021 PGA Championship to become the oldest major champion ever.

But those are in the past, and it's hard to envision a storyline in the future that can come close to what we witnessed Sunday. The pressure, expectations, and heartbreak that littered the long road McIlroy navigated to become only the sixth player to accomplish the career grand slam cannot be replicated by anyone else currently in the sport.

Jordan Spieth is the closest to completing the career grand slam, only needing the PGA Championship to join the club. But as remarkable as Spieth's run was from 2015 to 2017, he's not McIlroy. Spieth wasn't the child prodigy that McIlroy was, nor has he dealt with the lofty expectations that come with being heralded as Tiger's heir.

Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka have two of the four major titles, but their standing in the game, in terms of popularity, accomplishments, and longevity, doesn't come close to McIlroy's. Scottie Scheffler and DeChambeau will likely add more major trophies to their mantles, but still have a long way to go to collect all four.

And even if any of the players mentioned join golf's most elite club, they probably won't do it in the same dramatic fashion McIlroy did.

The only scenarios that could top McIlroy's feat seem unlikely.

One would be if Mickelson can win the U.S. Open. It's a long shot, since Mickelson turns 55 this year and hasn't recorded a top-25 finish at the U.S. Open since 2013. Another would be if Tiger can somehow come back from injuries and win a 16th major title. But Woods turns 50 this year and is recovering from a torn Achilles. Father Time will likely prevent both of these scenarios from happening.

Another - and perhaps the least likely - would be if someone wins the grand slam. Tiger is the only player to hold all four majors simultaneously, but it would certainly be a once-in-a-lifetime moment if someone won all four majors in the same year.

There's always a chance the next prodigy that comes around lives up to the hype, racks up major championships at an unprecedented clip, and climbs toward the top of the all-time majors list. But all that feels nearly impossible, which is why McIlroy's Sunday at Augusta was so special.

In 50 years, we'll probably still be reminiscing about that crazy April afternoon when McIlroy finally earned himself a green jacket, cementing his legacy alongside golf's all-time greats, remembering it as the last great day of golf.