Rory McIlroy picked up the 27th win of his PGA Tour career on Sunday afternoon. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy got his 2025 season off to the perfect start.
McIlroy ran away with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win of the season. He posted a 6-under 66 in what was his first start of the new PGA Tour season, which dropped him to 21-under on the week in Central California.
The win marked the 27th of McIlroy’s career, and his first since last year’s Wells Fargo Championship. He entered this week ranked No. 3 in the world. It’s now his eighth straight season with a win, which is the longest active streak on Tour.
“To win at one of the cathedrals of golf is really, really cool,” McIlroy said on CBS. “I knew today was going to be tough, it was going to be exciting, there were so many guys around the lead. With it being Pebble Beach, I had to put it to the back of my mind and go out there and shoot a score, which I was able to.”
McIlroy entered the year after what was a pretty tumultuous campaign last season. While he won twice and was seemingly constantly in contention — and he won the DP World Tour Championship — McIlroy finished in second at the U.S. Open in brutal fashion for a second straight summer and then missed the cut at the British Open, which extended his major championship drought to a full decade. That missed cut was his only one of the season.
But after taking some time off, and getting the new TGL league with Tiger Woods started in Florida, McIlroy finally made his season debut this week after his T4 finish at the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic last month. He didn’t waste any time, either. McIlroy dunked a hole-in-one for just the second time of his Tour career at Spyglass Hill on Thursday to set the tone immediately.
After starting the weekend at T13, McIlroy played his way into the final group on Sunday with a 7-under 65 in the third round, which he only pulled off thanks to three birdies in his final four holes of the day. While Sepp Straka started the day with a one-shot lead, he quickly fell behind after starting his day with a bogey and making another at the turn.
McIlroy took full advantage. He went 1-under on his front nine on Sunday, and then made birdie on two of his first three holes on the back nine to suddenly push his lead to two shots. Then at the 14th, McIlroy sank a deep 26-footer for eagle. That gave him a four-shot lead over the field.
From there, McIlroy simply cruised through the final few holes to grab his win and a $3.6 million check.
Shane Lowry finished alone in second at 19-under, and Justin Rose and Lucas Glover tied for third at 18-under on the week. Rose made an eagle with a bump-and-run chip with a wood from well off the front of the green to join them.
Russell Henley and Cam Davis finished in fifth at 17-under. Davis made birdie at the last to get there with an incredible chip shot from the base of a tree. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler finished T8 at 15-under after his final-round 67. Scheffler also made his season debut this week after he had to recover from a wine glass incident over Christmas.
Though it wasn’t a major championship win and his dry streak still lives on, McIlroy is still playing incredible golf. In the lead-up to the Masters in two months, being in that position is about all he can ask for.
