Rory McIlroy is back on top of the golf world after finally slipping on a green jacket at Augusta National—completing the career Grand Slam and capping a ten-year journey with a 2025 Masters victory. But not everyone is ready to crown him king of the next era. With three wins already this season, including at Pebble Beach and The Players Championship, McIlroy is leading the PGA Tour in earnings and riding a wave of momentum heading into the summer. Yet despite the resurgence, some voices in the game remain skeptical about whether this marks the start of a dominant new chapter—or just a long-awaited high point in an otherwise steady, if slightly streaky, career.
On 5 Clubs with host Gary Williams, veteran golf writer Michael Bamberger didn’t mince words: “I think he got very lucky to win that tournament. He knows he got lucky.” Harsh? Maybe. But Bamberger wasn’t just trolling. He was pointing to the mistakes McIlroy made en route to victory—including double bogeys on holes 1 and 13 in the final round—that could have easily derailed his week. And he’s not wrong: in a field that included Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Ludvig Åberg, Rory’s margin for error was razor-thin. Winning a major with two doubles on Sunday? That’s not a pattern anyone can rely on.
The conversation quickly turned to the bigger picture. Some are predicting that McIlroy, now unshackled from the pressure of chasing the career Slam, could go on a dominant run. Bamberger pumped the brakes: “When you’re talking about going on a tear, you’re talking about being Big Jack [Nicklaus] in his prime, Ben Hogan in his prime, Tiger [Woods] in his prime—where you’re way better than the field. You are demonstrably better than the field. He is not demonstrably better than the field.” It’s a fair point. McIlroy is still elite—he’s won three times in 2025 already—but the current PGA Tour landscape is loaded. Scheffler is a machine. Morikawa’s back. Åberg is rising fast. McIlroy’s edge isn’t what it was in 2014 when he won two majors in a row.
We had Michael Bamberger on earlier this week and he is not in the camp that @McIlroyRory is about to go on a tear.@GolfChannel | @Garywilliams1Up | @petermillar
Watch Full Show: https://t.co/lDVGfltfAb pic.twitter.com/hdf7RWIGZ1
— 5 Clubs (@5ClubsGolf) May 2, 2025
Still, Bamberger wasn’t discounting McIlroy’s place in the game. “So, I don’t really see how or why anything should change—except for the very significant fact that he’s an outstanding, world-class golfer. One of the best we’ve ever seen. And he should contend.” That’s the reality: McIlroy may not be in Tiger territory, but he’s in every conversation. And at 35, he’s still got time to prove guys like Bamberger wrong, starting with the PGA at Quail Hollow. While Bamberger isn’t alone in his skepticism about Rory McIlroy’s future dominance, others are raising similar concerns, even die-hard fans.
A career Grand Slam… but what comes next?
The 2025 season is shaping up to be Rory’s redemption arc, with wins at Pebble Beach, THE PLAYERS, and the long-awaited green jacket finally completing his career Grand Slam. But some wonder: could this be the peak rather than the start of a reign? Speaking on the Fore Play Podcast Plus, NHL veteran and avid golf fan Cal Clutterbuck compared McIlroy’s post-Masters momentum to Tiger Woods in 2019—another feel-good win followed by a puzzling downturn. “It could go either way,” Clutterbuck said, suggesting McIlroy might be in for a “championship hangover.” The signs aren’t dramatic yet, but they’re there. A T12 finish at the Zurich Classic—a drop-off from his 2024 win—has some fans raising eyebrows.
Woods’ 2019 Masters win was supposed to kickstart another historic run. Instead, it marked the end of a brief, magical burst. Clutterbuck sees a similar inflection point with McIlroy, wondering if the emotional and mental toll of chasing greatness might leave little left in the tank. One thing’s for sure: the next few starts will tell us a lot.
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