'Not Gripping Drama': Joe Brolly Downplays Rory McIlroy's Masters Win

The buzz around Rory McIlroy's Masters win shows no sign of dissipating as the island of Ireland basks in one of its greatest sporting conquests.

McIlroy's achievement was 14 years in the making, having so famously butchered a golden opportunity to win his maiden Major championship at the event in 2011.

Four Major wins followed that implosion, the last of which came at the 2014 Open and frustrated Irish golf fans had since watched McIlroy falter on the biggest stages for over a decade.

The short-putt agony of Pinehurst in 2024, spurning a golden chance against Wyndham Clark at the US Open a year prior and Cameron Smith's late surge at the 2022 Open are just a few of McIlroy's recent heartbreaks.

Hence the elation when he sank his four-foot putt to beat Justin Rose in a play-off on Sunday, sinking to his knees as the tears flooded.

It made for one of the most iconic moments at Augusta National if the reaction of onlookers was anything to go by, as well as the explosion on social media and as up and down Ireland.

It has promptly been debated as one of the greatest sporting feats in Irish history, McIlroy becoming the first Irishman to win the most famous prize in golf.

His victory reverberated beyond golf circles with big names from across the globe quick to share their admiration in the wake of his greatest success.

However, prominent GAA pundit and fellow Northern Irishman Joe Brolly has poured cold water on the magnitude of his countryman's glory.

Brolly, a key footballer for Derry in his playing days, has made many headlines for his sporting takes as an analyst.

Speaking on his Free State podcast with co-host Dion Fanning, Brolly had his latest hot take when it came to what transpired in Georgia.

Comparing it to the epic All-Ireland hurling final drama witnessed in Croke Park when Clare broke Cork hearts last summer, Brolly questioned the sport of golf as a spectacle.

Golf like...Can you compare the golf like... you didn't, for example, you weren't at the Clare v Cork All-Ireland Hurling final last year, that's gripping, that's people absolutely gripped.

"This is guys strolling around knocking a ball."

He continued: "I never played golf and all of that. I can understand obviously the excitement of two players vying it out at the end with everything on the line.

"But in terms of great drama, great sporting drama, come on, I mean some of the great series' that there are in the NBA. Some of the great sporting contests like Brazil v Italy (1994 FIFA World Cup final)...

"But something like this, a guy winning a golf tournament...

"They're not great sporting contests, they might be psychologically interesting to see the fella swallowing and licking his lips and stroking his head, showing all those characteristics of great tension and nerves, but so far as great sporting contests go, the guy hits a golf ball a very, very long way.

"He then hits a very accurate shot that gets him closer to the hole than the other guy, and then he scores it.

"It's not gripping drama."

Brolly's take is sure to be a controversial one given Ireland's strong history in the world of golf.

From McIlroy's prior glories to Padraig Harrington's hat-trick of Majors and Shane Lowry's Open success at Royal Portrush, golf has created some of Ireland's most-cherised sporting successes.

The County Down native's latest win could well top the lot of them, given it makes him a Grand Slam winner - joining an elite club of golfers to have won all four Majors.