Rory McIlroy’s dramatic victory at the Masters has cost William Hill dearly, with the bookmaker making one of their largest ever payouts on golf. McIlroy finally won the major after triumphing over Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff, with both golfers having finished 11 shots under.
He ultimately beat Rose in the playoff after the Englishman missed a birdie attempt from 15 feet, while McIlroy sank his putt from three feet. McIlroy’s win has also earned a number of punters some cash, with William Hill receiving tens of thousands of bets on him to win the Masters.
Not only has the bookmaker paid out on the Northern Irishman’s triumph, but their pre-tournament offer to give punters their money back as a free bet if McIlroy won has resulted in more than £1million being returned to customers.
Lee Phelps, a William Hill spokesperson, said: “Masters Sunday 2025 will go down as one of the most dramatic we’ve ever seen, but also as one of the most significant in the history of betting on golf for William Hill.
“Rory McIlroy was always the biggest liability in our book before a ball was hit, and the stakes were raised when we announced Money Back as a Free Bet if McIlroy completed the career grand slam.
“In total, we’re now looking at a seven-figure payout. We laid tens of thousands of individual bets on McIlroy to win the Masters alone, while there was a good spread of business across the competitors this year with punters safe in the knowledge they had some Rory insurance.
“In the end it was an amazing sporting moment and it’s great to see Rory in that elite group of golfers.” McIroy is now one of just six male golfers to have achieved a modern grand slam by winning the Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only other male golfers to have accomplished the feat. Reflecting on his emotional victory, McIlroy admitted: “It was all relief.
“There wasn’t much joy in that reaction. It was all relief. The joy came pretty soon after that. But I’ve been coming here 17 years, and it was a decade-plus of emotion that came out of me there. At least 11 years, if not 14 years of pent-up emotion.
“It’s very difficult. I think I’ve carried that burden since August 2014. It’s nearly 11 years. And not just about winning my next major, but the career Grand Slam. Trying to join a group of five players to do it, you know, watching a lot of my peers get green jackets in the process.
“It’s been difficult, and I’ve tried to approach this tournament with the most positive attitude each and every time that I’ve shown up, and I think just the sort of cumulative experience that I’ve gained coming back here each and every year, I just I feel like I get a little more comfortable with the shot needed.
“I talked about it at the start of the week, but you know, there’s talking about it and actually doing it. And today was difficult. I was unbelievably nervous this morning.
“Really nervous on the first hole, as you witnessed with the double, but that sort of calmed me down and I was able to bounce back and show that resilience that I’ve talked about a lot. Yeah, look, it was a heavy weight to carry, and thankfully now I don’t have to carry it and it frees me up and I know I’m coming back here every year, which is lovely.”
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