Other moments of glory, other moments of genius in full bloom, other moments that capture a mix of destiny and history and the sheer, breathtaking drama and wonder of sport, keep playing through my mind.
I will never forget being at Donington Park in the April of 1993, new to reporting on Formula One, and seeing Ayrton Senna scything through the field at the European Grand Prix in the rain and in an inferior McLaren in a lap from the Gods.
Being on Centre Court at Wimbledon in the July of 2013 is seared into my brain, too, seeing Andy Murray overcome the crushing burden of expectation to become the first British man to win the men’s singles title there for 77 years and to feel the weight of history.
Staring down from the stands in the Lusail Stadium in Qatar a week before Christmas in 2022, watching the best football match I have ever seen and witnessing Lionel Messi, the greatest player I have ever seen, gild his career by winning the World Cup was another moment to revel in the joy of sport.
And the truth is that being at Augusta National this past week and watching Rory McIlroy win the greatest Masters tournament there has ever been and become only the sixth golfer in history to complete the career Grand Slam, was as wondrous as any passage of sport I have ever seen.
Often, the greatest stories in sport involve a quest, an epic journey through adversity towards a grail. McIlroy’s win at the Masters certainly did. He admitted after his victory that the pain of throwing away a golden opportunity to win the tournament in 2011 had been burning into him for 14 years.
Watching Rory McIlroy win the greatest Masters tournament there ever has been was as wondrous as any passage of sport I have ever seen
McIlroy did not find ways to lose in a thrilling, dramatic final round. He found ways to win
When he sunk that final putt on the 18th green, he fulfilled his destiny, the destiny that had been predicted for him since he was a child
He said there were times when hearing greats of the game like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson say that he would definitely win the Masters one year almost crushed him with pressure. There were times when he doubted he would ever add a Green Jacket to his triumphs at the US Open, the Open and the USPGA.
Many had written him off, too. They had dismissed him as a choker, a bottler, a player who could not handle the pressure when the prize got close and who had made a habit of throwing victories away when they were in reach. ‘A McIlroy meltdown’ has become part of golf’s vernacular.
But on Sunday, on a day of impossible drama, McIlroy overcame all that. Some will point to his double bogeys on the 1st and the 13th and his missed 6ft putt on the 18th, that would have given him victory, and say that he tried to find a way to lose again but it is wrong to think of it like that.
McIlroy did not find ways to lose. He found ways to win. He dug deep, deep within and when he needed it most, he produced moment after moment of genius to swat away the early challenge of Bryson DeChambeau and the late charge of Justin Rose.
He made errors but he followed them with something sublime. And the sublime outweighed the errors. The audacity of one shot on the 7th hole, a wedge that soared through a line of magnolia trees and came to rest a few feet from the pin, even made McIlroy laugh.
Sure, there were times he looked as if he were throwing it away again, as if he were being drawn towards his doom, as though fate was decreeing it. The round became an anarchy of dropped shots and changing leads and despairing glances and flirtations with disaster and the rush for redemption.
McIlroy’s genius overcame all that doubt and all that history and all that frailty with shots that drew great gasps and thunderous cheers from the galleries at the 15th, the 17th and the 18th, in the first hole of the play-off with Rose.
It is one of the things that makes McIlroy so popular and so mesmeric and so charismatic. He is vulnerable. He can be frail. His genius is fragile but over four days in this meticulously manicured corner of Georgia, he overcame all that. He alluded to something else in his press conference later, too: most of all, he overcame himself.
In that moment on the first play-off hole at Augusta, McIlroy slew all of his dragons
Greatness welcomed McIlroy home at the Masters and he now stands alongside some of the legends of the game
In that moment on the first play-off hole, he slew all of his dragons. He ended his 11-year major drought, he won the Masters for the first time, he became only the sixth golfer, and the first European, to win all four majors. It was a momentous day for the sport, not just for McIlroy.
When he sunk that final putt on the 18th green, he fulfilled his destiny, the destiny that had been predicted for him since he was a child, the destiny that he had accelerated towards in his 20s but which had then almost faded from sight.
At the Masters, greatness welcomed him home. Nicklaus, Player, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods: McIlroy stands beside them now.
As he’s the most exciting golfer I’ve ever seen, because he is one of the UK and Ireland’s greatest ever sportsmen, because he is so easy to like and admire, being at Augusta when McIlroy won the Masters had become the prospect I cherished the most. These are some of the others on my wishlist…
1. Justin Rose to win the Masters
Rose has been the runner-up three times now at Augusta and, at the age of 44, his play-off defeat by McIlroy may have been his last chance. I hope it wasn’t.
Rose was the epitome of class in the aftermath of a loss that must have been devastating after he played such a brilliant final round and came so close to snatching victory. Instead of displaying his disappointment, though, he spoke to McIlroy on the 18th green and told him what an honour it had been to be with him when McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam. ‘He has displayed so much grace throughout his career,’ McIlroy said, and he was right.
At the age of 44, Justin Rose’s play-off defeat by McIlroy may have been his last chance. I hope it wasn’t
Rose was the epitome of class in the aftermath of a loss that must have been devastating
2. England to win the World Cup
I have covered seven men’s World Cups now and England have never really got close to winning. The best team might have been the side that lost on penalties to Argentina in 1998.
Gareth Southgate has laid the foundations for new England boss Thomas Tuchel to have a decent shot at it in the USA, Canada and Mexico next year. Any squad that boasts Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Bukayo Saka has to have a chance but the suspicion is there are still too many weaknesses for England to lift the trophy in 2026.
When it eventually happens, if it happens, the celebrations and the sense of catharsis will dwarf anything else we’ve seen.
3. Arsenal to win the Champions League
It has become unfashionable now but I have always been one of those people who wants English teams to do well in European competition, whatever other affiliations I might have. Arsenal are probably the greatest English side yet to win the world’s leading club competition and I’d love them to put that right.
I was in Paris when they missed out against Barcelona in 2006 but they have another chance to lift the trophy this season. Getting past Real Madrid in the Bernabeu on Wednesday in the second leg of their quarter-final will not be easy, even with a 3-0 first-leg lead, but if they do, they will have the belief they can beat anyone.
4. Joe Root to become the leading run scorer in Test cricket
Like Rose, Root is a sportsman who is a credit to his profession and a credit to sport. He is a beautiful batsman to watch, a classical player who loves the game and seems to be getting better and better with age.
England have more than a decent shot of ending their trophy drought by winning the 2026 World Cup
Arsenal are probably the greatest English side yet to win the world’s leading club competition and I’d love them to put that right
He is fifth in the current all-time list with 12,972 runs but he is only 34 and he could overtake Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting during England’s series with India this summer. Catching Sachin Tendulkar, who is almost 3,000 runs ahead of him, will take a little longer.
5. Lewis Hamilton to win an eighth F1 world championship
Hamilton came desperately close to beating Michael Schumacher’s record of seven F1 drivers’ titles in 2021 before losing controversially to Max Verstappen at the final race in Abu Dhabi.
His start with Ferrari has been underwhelming and there are doubts he will be able to recreate old glories. But rule changes will bring uncertainty next season and if Hamilton could challenge for that eighth title, it would strengthen his claim to be Britain’s greatest ever sportsman.
6. Emma Raducanu to win a second Slam
Raducanu’s astonishing triumph at the 2021 US Open, when she was an 18-year-old qualifier, has become an albatross around her neck. She has failed to get anywhere close to that achievement since with her career derailed by injuries and an apparent aversion to retaining a coach for more than a few months.
Recently, though, there have been signs she is rising again. If she could win a second Slam, it would be one of the great comebacks in women’s sport.
7. Ben Stokes to lead England to victory in this winter’s Ashes
England rarely win a Test match in Australia, let alone a series. I was there in 2010-11 when they last won and the scoreboard at the Gabba in Brisbane showing England at 517 for 1 in their second innings of the drawn first Test – Alastair Cook hit an unbeaten 235 – is one of the greatest sights I have seen in sport. England have not won a Test Down Under since that tour but Stokes is a brilliant captain and a brilliant player and this time, the contest may be a little more even than in the last two series.
If Lewis Hamilton could challenge for that eighth title, it would strengthen his claim to be Britain’s greatest ever sportsman
Emma Raducanu winning a second Slam would be one of the great comebacks in women’s sport
8. England’s women’s team to win the World Cup
The Lionesses have come a lot closer than the men have in the last 60 years. And that’s despite their sport being outlawed for some of that time.
The next step in their trajectory is for Sarina Wiegman’s side to retain their European Championship crown in Switzerland this summer and then it will be time for another shot at claiming the biggest prize of all.
9. Anthony Joshua to beat Tyson Fury
I’ve lost track of whether the 36-year-old Fury has retired again but if the money is right for the Battle of Britain that everyone still wants to see, there is little doubt he’ll get back in the ring. He’s a brilliant boxer but I’ve never been a fan. I’d love to see the fight happen and for Joshua’s hand to be raised at the end.
10. Buffalo Bills to win a Super Bowl
The first Super Bowl I saw live was the Emmitt Smith-inspired Dallas Cowboys’ 30-13 victory over the Bills at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in 1994.
It was the Bills’ fourth-straight loss in the NFL’s showpiece occasion. They suffered plenty of heartbreaks in those losses and came desperately close to winning but they have not made it back to the big game since. It’s time their run came to an end, especially with such a fine quarterback in Josh Allen in his prime.
