Dream big, stay the course

What a week it has been for Rory McIlroy, who against the odds, brought home a dramatic victory at the 2025 US Masters and became the first European athlete to win all 4 major championships in the modern era… Earning his first Green Jacket in the process, and ending an 11-year championship drought.

But this isn’t just any comeback story.

It’s a win that has captured the world, reminding us of the beautiful life lessons that can be learnt through sport, and how much resilience it takes to bounce back from defeat and chase down our dreams.

Listening to Rory reflect on his Masters performance, it’s clear that he tapped into the power of intrinsic motivation when it mattered most. There are 3 elements here that got us particularly inspired:

Firstly, potential.

In the face of previous failures, expectations and external noise, Rory chose to lean into possibility. He pictured himself at the end of the round, believing that everything would be okay. And whilst we can never control the conditions or competitors, there’s something incredibly powerful about the internal conversations we have with ourselves.

Whether we believe we can or believe we can’t, we're usually right… And Rory decided to believe in the resilience that had got him this far.

“How I responded to setbacks,” he shared, “I think that’s what I’ll take from this week. I couldn’t be more proud of myself for being able to bounce back when I needed to.”

Secondly, purpose.

Rory’s strength is in connecting with why he plays; the people and the principles that matter most to him. In this, Rory had his caddie Harry - a childhood friend from the age of 7 - his family, his wife, and daughter Poppy: a team he could truly lean on and play for.  

“My family, my team, they’ve been on this journey with me the whole way through. They know the burden that I’ve carried to come here every year and try and try again. And the one thing I would say to my daughter, Poppy, who is sitting over there… Never ever give up on your dreams.”

Finally, appreciation.

For us, there was a particular moment - a reframe with Rory’s caddie - that was as important as any winning putt. Having just bogeyed the hole in the play-off with Justin Rose, Rory could have crumbled, and focused on all the things that create unnecessary pressure.

Instead, Harry offered a positive outlook: “Well pal, we would have taken this on Monday morning!” As if to say, how good is this? We get to do this together.

With this simple but profound shift in perspective, Rory replaced expectation with appreciation, stayed calm, and reminded himself of how well he plays this hole.

The rest, as they say, is history.

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