Playing the Par 5 18th hole, Rory McIlroy had only managed to score 2-under par on the day so far. He was already trailing Tommy Fleetwood by 7 strokes. The Irishman needed a strong finish and was playing a tricky, narrow hole to end the round. Fortunately, after scoring a birdie on it on Thursday, he knew what he had to do to score another point.

He took a similar approach on Friday as well to score another birdie and finished with 6-under par. When McIlroy was asked about why he was so good at scoring on the last hole, he had one simple answer.

The Grand Slam champion sat down for an interview after he completed his second round in the 2025 DP World India Championship. EssentiallySports asked him how he was so good at hitting the approach shot on the 18th hole, whereas others on the field were struggling with it.

McIlroy said, “I think the 18th is all to do with the tee shot. You have to put your tee shot on play off the tee. It’s a tough shot; you’re looking at 260-270 yards. If you hit it on the green, that’s great, that’s a bonus, but get it up there around the green and get it up and down and make a birdie, and that’s a nice way to finish your round.”

That’s exactly what the Irishman did. He hit an excellent tee shot that landed in the center of the fairway and 285 yards from the cup. His approach shot was just outside the green, 18 yards from the pin. Then he hit an excellent wedge to chip the ball close to the cup and made a 5-foot birdie to end the day. McIlroy did something similar on the first day as well, as he dropped the ball short of the green on Thursday. He managed to score a birdie to end the first round on a positive note.

While McIlroy made it look easy, many of his peers found the 18th a different story. Let’s see how the others scored there.

Rory McIlroy finds success where others struggled

Rory McIlroy may not be in the title picture right now, but his good friend Shane Lowry certainly is. He could have ended day two tied with Tommy Fleetwood, going into the weekend. However, the Irishman failed to make par on the 18th hole to make that happen.

Lowry needed six strokes to complete the hole as he scored a bogey to end the day at 11-under, 1 stroke behind the Englishman and his Ryder Cup teammate.

Matt Fitzpatrick’s brother, Alex, was also put in a similar position at the end of the round. He could have ended the day only 3 strokes behind Fleetwood. Instead, a last-hole bogey pushed his score down by 1 to 8-under par. He also dropped out of the top 5 leaderboard as a result. So did Marcel Schneider, sitting at 9-under before the 18th hole bogey.

But McIlroy? He made that hole look easy. Where others struggled, he stayed composed, finding a rhythm that felt almost effortless. It was a small moment that said a lot, not just about his form, but about why he remains one of the game’s most complete players.