When 25-year-old McIlroy claimed the fourth major of his career – at the 2014 US PGA Championship – it felt inevitable he would quickly complete the collection at the Masters.
Back-to-back majors at the Open Championship and US PGA – having previously won the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA – signalled his dominance.
A Green Jacket could have already been in the wardrobe, too, but he blew a four-shot lead on a haunting final day in 2011.
It sparked a long barren streak at all four majors, with McIlroy’s heart crushed most recently at Pinehurst last June.
The world number two had charged up the US Open leaderboard to move two shots clear of overnight leader DeChambeau.
Then, as McIlroy later admitted, he lost focus.
Bogeys on three of his last four holes allowed DeChambeau to snatch a dramatic victory.
It was a loss which cut deep. McIlroy fled Pinehurst swiftly, avoiding the media and laying low until the Scottish Open a month later.
“Some people have an experience like that and decide they don’t want to get there again, it hurts too much,” said Rotella.
“He said he wanted to win majors and could handle losing.”
While he missed the cut at the blustery Open Championship which followed, the bounce back in 2025 has been impressive.
A dominant final round from McIlroy led to a two-shot victory at Pebble Beach in February, before he mentally reset to win last month’s The Players Championship at Sawgrass in a play-off showdown on the Monday.
And so to Augusta National. The guttural emotion following Sunday’s winning putt was McIlroy shedding the weight of burden which had laid heavy.
“Every time you get your heart broken you have to bounce back and it makes for a better story – but you have to have the guts to keep going after it,” Rotella added.
“A lot give up on themselves. I admire the heck out of him because he didn’t.”
