Rory McIlroy gets PGA Tour wish after admitting excitement to Amanda Balionis

Rory McIlroy spoke to Amanda Balionis after Saturday’s round
Rory McIlroy spoke to Amanda Balionis after Saturday’s round
© X/@GolfonCBS
Rory McIlroy has claimed victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California, bagging his first PGA Tour win of 2025.

McIlroy, 35, dazzled with a stunning final round on Sunday (66), outplaying the likes of Lucas Glover, Tom Kim, Cam Davis, Sepp Straka, and Scottie Scheffler. He finished on -21 for the tournament, two shots ahead of his close friend Shane Lowry in second.

This marks his 27th PGA Tour victory, placing him among the top echelon with over 20 wins on golf’s premier stage in the United States. The four-time major champion is riding high off his DP World Tour Championship win last November.

Since then, McIlroy’s only other outing was at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic last month, where he tied for fourth place. The win comes just 24 hours after the seasoned professional told CBS reporter Amanda Balionis just how big a win this would be.

“Historically, the West Coast hasn’t been that good for me,” McIlroy told Balionis on Saturday. “I haven’t played that well over here – I had a top-10 (finish) in the U.S. Open at Pebble but haven’t played great around this golf course. I don’t even know if I’ve ever won in California, so tomorrow would be big for a lot of reasons… It’s exciting to try to get my first win of the season.”

McIlroy, 35, has vowed to cut down on his tournament appearances this year, aiming to snap an 11-year drought without a major title. “So the minimums, I still have to play my 15 events on this tour, so I’ll make sure I fulfil my minimum here,” he said earlier this week.

“I played 27 events last year. I think to fulfil both minimums, I need to play around 22, so that’s what I’ll do. I’ll play around 22, so that’s five weeks. That’s an extra 35 days at home, and that’s something that I want to do.”

McIlroy’s calculated approach seems to be paying dividends, as evidenced by clinching one of the PGA Tour’s marquee tournaments. Currently ranked world No. 3, he’s clearly among the globe’s golfing elite, although last year saw him chasing the heels of top players like Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.

Scheffler took the golfing world by storm in 2024, bagging nine tournament wins including the Players Championship, Masters and Olympics. Schauffele, on the other hand, clinched his first two major titles with victories at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship.

McIlroy was within a hair’s breadth of winning last year’s other major, the U.S. Open, but faltered toward the end of his final round, handing the title to LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau. However, if McIlroy can keep up his impressive form leading into the Masters this April, he stands a solid chance of ending his long drought for a fifth major title.