Hey Maple Leafs fans, Masters champion Rory McIlroy has a message for you
If you look hard enough, you can see the similarities between Rory McIlroy and Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
Both are all too familiar with the chase of an elusive title, the pent up emotion from a collapse that always felt inevitable and the demons the pile up as someone else ends up raising the trophy in the end.
The major difference, of course, is that McIlroy conquered those demons when he won his first Masters title in April, ending an 11-year major championship drought. Now in Toronto for the RBC Canadian Open, the world's No. 2 ranked men's golfer hopes the Leafs can do the same.
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'If I can win the Masters, then the Leafs can win the Stanley Cup,' McIlroy said Wednesday from TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, according to TSN's Bob Weeks. The two-time winner of the RBC Canadian Open was gifted a Leafs jersey by MLSE CEO Keith Pelley, who used to head the PGA European Tour.
Rory McIlroy playing RBC Canadian Open Pro-Am with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley (former European Tour chief). Presented Rory with a Maple Leafs jersey. So hey, the Leafs are relevant in June after all. pic.twitter.com/dj7YffBp5Y
— Joe Callaghan (@JoeCallaghan84) June 4, 2025
McIlroy's win i n a sudden-death playoff hole at Augusta National made him the sixth golfer with the career Grand Slam. But the 36-year-old wasn't sure if that day would ever come.
'There were points in my career where I didn't know if I would have this nice garment over my shoulders,' McIlroy said after the win, referring to the green jacket.
Golf
Opinion
Dave Feschuk: Rory McIlroy can exhale. He's a Masters champion at last — with a Grand Slam just like Tiger
Dave Feschuk
Generations of Leafs fans can surely relate. This year's Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers in the second round of the playoffs will keep the Stanley Cup drought at 58 years and counting.
At last year's Canadian Open, McIlroy told Adam Stanley of Sportsnet that it would be 'amazing' to attend a Leafs game if they were in the playoffs during the 2025 event.
The good news for McIlroy and his fellow Leafs fans is, there's always next year.
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