Rory McIlroy ended his 11 years of struggle by finally winning at Augusta National to claim the Grand Slam honor. With that, he had the chip off his shoulder as he had achieved all he had aimed for in his career. That was also the last time fans saw the Irishman actually pushing for a win. After Augusta, fans hoped that Rory would unleash the fury, but all they have seen is failure after failure. T12, T7, T47, and then a missed cut. McIlroy even confessed that “it’s hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again.” That worried some, while others criticized him for taking his foot off the pedal. Most recently, it was Fore Play Podcast‘s Trent Ryan and Sam Riggs Bozoian.

Ryan said, “The only one that really matters is the Masters. Clearly, all of your (McIlroy’s) focus went towards that,” suggesting that all his effort in 2025 before winning at ANGC was to ensure he wins the Green Jacket. Since then, “He has just sort of been floating a little bit, and I don’t blame him,” said Trent. He understood that McIlroy was just decompressing from the pressure he had felt for so long. The pressure to end the major drought of over a decade and win the Masters that had eluded him for so long. 2011 and 2022 heartbreaks were enough to add to that pressure.

While understanding the sentiment, Sam mentioned, “The only thing that makes that confusing is that if the Masters that he had won was the last major of the year, I don’t think any of this discussion would be occurring at all.” He continued to elaborate that McIlroy’s bad form only became an issue Masters happened at the start of the season. Had Rory completed the feat at the end of the year, then no one would have batted an eye.

He continued, “What kind of almost hurts his public image in this instance is that he wins the Masters, and then it’s just back-to-back-to-back huge events he’s still got to play in.” A series of bad performances after capturing the Masters win reflects badly on the 29-time PGA Tour champion. This makes it easy for him to be accused of lucky wins and using illegal equipment to complete his feat. Riggs also mentioned how “If he had won the British Open… It was the final leg of the Grand Slam, and he won that in July, and then the rest of the year we didn’t really see him again until the Ryder Cup,” then the fans would be a lot more understanding.

Trent then took over the conversation, agreeing with Sam’s proposal before saying, “It almost should be more acceptable. We live in such a culture where it’s like, ‘what’s next?'” He believes that the fans expect the golf stars to keep pushing for more in today’s generation. As the analyst suggested, McIlroy wouldn’t have faced so much heat if he had done this in the 1950s. “Now it’s like, where’s Rory? He’s not talking to the media. Why is he not talking to the media? What’s he doing? He’s shooting a 78!” said Ryan as he elaborated on how demanding the fans have become now.

He also stated that Rory McIlroy is “kind of a prisoner of having his career Grand Slam completed with the first major of the year.” The added pressure from the community is overshadowing the outstanding year he had before that. But he can’t get the crowd off his back, as Sam added. Bozoian also suggests that it would have been better if, “he just won the Masters and then on Monday released a statement of like ‘I’m not playing again until the Ryder Cup.'” Had Irishman done that, he would have had nearly 5 months to catch a break and get back on track. But the fans expected it to be Rory’s year. You know may be get a calendar slam.

However, Rory McIlroy chose to stay silent. He still competed in events, underperformed, was involved in controversies, and finally shared his frustration with the media. And they didn’t take kindly to his approach.

Rory McIlroy’s silence speaks volumes against him

Up until the 2025 Truist Championship, Rory McIlroy was still under a positive light as he was still a strong contender for the two events he played after the 2025 Masters. But things broke down at Quail Hollow. As leaked by an insider, the USGA had announced McIlroy Qi10’s driver ‘non-conforming’. This raised accusations that the Irishman used an illegal driver to win the Green Jacket. What followed was an abysmal show in the major that only added salt to the wound.

Things only got worse when the 36-year-old stayed mum about the issue. Only recently did Rory McIlroy reveal that he was trying to protect Scottie Scheffler and others who had also had their drivers non-conforming. However, by then, it was too late, as the netizens had already been fed a false narrative about his story. Could McIlroy have done something different to avoid the heat he faced during the controversy? His performance at the 2025 U.S. Open might give us a better picture.