x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
Why this Rory McIlroy Masters hug resonated
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf

InsideGOLF: +$140 value for $39.99

Join Today
News

Why this Rory McIlroy Masters hug resonated

By: Alan Bastable
  • Follow on Twitter
April 18, 2025
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
rory mcilroy and kate rose embracing after the masters

Rory McIlroy and Kate Rose after McIlroy's Masters win on Sunday.

masters.com

Masters Sunday is known for producing spine-tingling roars, but it has also produced its share of eye-watering hugs.

Who can forget Nick Faldo and Greg Norman in 1996, embracing on the 18th green after Norman had kicked away a six-stroke lead? A victorious Faldo, normally not the touchy-feely type, pulled Norman in close and advised his opponent on how to handle the forthcoming media coverage of his meltdown: “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”

A year later, another hug for the ages: Earl and Tiger, after the younger Woods had blistered the field by 12 and reinvented professional golf as we knew it. As he walked off the 18th green, Tiger collapsed into Earl’s arms, burrowed his chin into his father’s right shoulder and closed his eyes.

Fast forward to 2019 and Tiger’s sixth and most improbable Masters win. Waiting for him by the green was his son Charlie, resulting in a bear-hug that called to mind Earl’s from more than two decades earlier. All the feels, and then some.

The moments that followed Rory McIlroy’s first Masters win on Sunday evening also did not lack for emotion.

Before he’d even exited the 18th green, the new champion had doled out three hugs: one for his caddie and childhood friend, Harry Diamond; another for playing partner Justin Rose, who’d just joined Ben Hogan as the only player to lose two Masters playoffs; and a third for Rose’s long-time caddie, Mark Fulcher. As McIlroy stepped off the back of the green, he shook hands with four green-coated Augusta National members before exhaling and extending his arms toward his wife, Erica. That embrace was followed by another — with the couple’s 4-year-old daughter Poppy, who McIlroy scooped up off the ground.

On McIlroy’s walk to scoring, more hugs along the way: for his managers; for Tom Nelson, chairman of the Masters media committee; for his close Tour pals and Ryder Cup stablemates Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood.

Standing to Fleetwood’s immediate right on the receiving line was who at least one British tabloid would later refer to as a “mystery woman.” To close watchers of the professional game, though, this well-wisher was anything but mysterious. It was Justin Rose’s wife, Kate, to whom Justin has been married since 2006 and who has been a staple at Ryder Cups and other big-time events ever since. Kate has witnessed firsthand many of Mcllroy’s soaring highs and crushing lows. She understands the challenges and stresses of the profession, and how winning major championships, even for the world’s best talents, is nearly impossible. She knows what the green jacket meant and means to McIlroy, just as she knows what a second major title would mean to her husband’s legacy and Hall-of-Fame chances.

News
Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates with Shane Lowry of Ireland after winning the Masters in a sudden death playoff at Augusta National
Rory McIlroy’s tense Masters win was agonizing to watch. Ask his friends
By: Alan Bastable

McIlroy, a historian of the game, knows that, too. He can tell you all about Rose’s other near-misses, especially the 2017 Masters when no player topped Rose’s 279 mark over 72 holes before Rose fell to Sergio Garcia in a playoff. “I feel for him a little bit,” McIlroy, in his green jacket Sunday evening, said of Rose, “because he’s been so close.”

So when McIlroy spotted Kate next to Fleetwood, you could understand the mixed and heightened emotions coursing through both of them. Kate was joyful for McIlroy but gutted for her husband; McIlroy was ecstatic for himself but also oozing empathy for the friend over whom he’d just triumphed. What else could he and Kate do but quietly exchange a few words?  

“Listen, I think in the moment you realize what it means to everybody involved,” Justin Rose said Wednesday at Harbour Town, where he is in the field at the RBC Heritage. “You realize what it means to other families, what they must be feeling. You’re a part of the moment. You’re a part of the story. You’re a part of all of the energy that’s going on in that moment. I think that’s what happens. You embrace that connection that you have with everybody and all that’s going on in the moment.”

Put another way, golf can be the most solitary and lonely of pursuits, but then along comes one of those rare and precious moments when the room lights up and you realize you’re actually not alone.

Rose said he didn’t know what Kate said into McIlroy’s ear, and frankly, he sounded like he didn’t think it was any of his business. “I don’t think that was discussion-worthy,” he said.

Rose also was asked whether he’s ever had “a hug like that in golf with a competitor.”

“I got a great hug from Tommy Fleetwood when I walked off 18 on Sunday,” he said. “Meant a lot. It’s not always about the result. It’s about how someone can make you feel or what they say.” Assuming, that is, the player can process it in the moment. Rose continued, “Sometimes your mind is spinning a million miles an hour in those situations, and often it’s hard to take in what someone might say to you.”

Big picture, Rose said on Wednesday, he is “tormented” by the possibility of what could have been at Augusta National last week but also that he couldn’t have asked for much more from himself.

“No regrets,” he said. “You can lose a golf tournament and there’s a million things that you think I should have done this differently. There’s not really much I can look back and go, I should have done that differently on the day. It’s more just, like, wish it would have added up to a different result.”

Latest In News

23 minutes ago

A year ago, she was panicked. Now, Lilia Vu is major threat again

4 hours ago

USGA, Oakmont investing $1 million into public golf, communities

5 hours ago

'It's bulls--t': Nick Faldo defends Bryson DeChambeau criticism

6 hours ago

The LPGA is quickly evolving, but there's a lot to love right now

Alan Bastable

Golf.com Editor

As GOLF.com’s executive editor, Bastable is responsible for the editorial direction and voice of one of the game’s most respected and highly trafficked news and service sites. He wears many hats — editing, writing, ideating, developing, daydreaming of one day breaking 80 — and feels privileged to work with such an insanely talented and hardworking group of writers, editors and producers. Before grabbing the reins at GOLF.com, he was the features editor at GOLF Magazine. A graduate of the University of Richmond and the Columbia School of Journalism, he lives in New Jersey with his wife and foursome of kids.

  • Author Twitter Account

Related Articles

Balls
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry with their golf balls.

What golf ball will teams use at the Zurich? The defending champs have a loophole

By: Jack Hirsh
News
Nick Faldo shakes hands with Bryson DeChambeau prior to the 2019 Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush.

'It's bulls--t': Nick Faldo defends Bryson DeChambeau criticism

By: Kevin Cunningham
Food
Rory McIlroy eating a protein bar during final round of 2025 Masters

This protein bar helped fuel Rory McIlroy’s 2025 Masters win

By: Maddi MacClurg
News
Justin Thomas and fill-in caddie Joe Greiner post-win.

Dahmen's heartbreak, JT's surprising advice, caddie intrigue | Monday Finish

By: Dylan Dethier
Putting
PGA Tour pro Justin Rose lines up putt on No. 6 at the Masters

Make more putts using this tour-trusted alignment hack

By: Maddi MacClurg
News
Rory McIlroy

Tour Confidential: Where does Rory McIlroy's Masters win rank among the best ever?

By: Zephyr Melton , Josh Schrock , Nick Piastowski
News
Zach Johnson

‘Walked out of there not very comfortable’: Masters Dinner wowed 1 winner

By: Nick Piastowski
News
Rory McIlroy, Poppy McIlroy

Rory’s daughter asks a tough question, and I'm a Green Jacket fan | Weekend 9

By: Nick Piastowski
News
rory mcilroy crouches at the masters in celebration after victory at augusta national

Masters TV ratings: 6 intriguing numbers from Rory McIlroy's win

By: James Colgan
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Go to mobile version