Remembering that time Rory McIlroy almost played golf for ETSU | Estes

Did you know Rory McIlroy once committed to play college golf in Tennessee?

It’s true.

The two-time reigning Masters champion, as a teenager living in Northern Ireland, signed a letter of intent with East Tennessee State University. The school announced McIlroy’s signing on Nov. 29, 2004, saying "the youthful McIlroy brings an extensive and successful résumé to Johnson City.”

ETSU’s program had recruited Irish players, and the familiarity appealed to McIlroy. He shrugged off interest from more prominent American college teams, according to an ESPN.com article last year detailing his recruitment, and he was planning to stick with the Bucs and play for them beginning in the 2005-06 season.

Alas, he didn’t make it to ETSU. His early golfing success led him to turn pro in 2007.

McIlroy’s short-lived brush with ETSU has long been an afterthought in one of golf’s all-time great careers, with bona fides that now include back-to-back Masters victories.

After knocking down that door in 2025, he crept through it again in 2026, becoming the first repeat champion since Tiger Woods did it in 2001-02.

Previously: We loved Rory McIlroy's Masters because he outdueled his toughest foe: himself | Estes

The sequel wasn't as enthralling as his unforgettable, long-awaited, roller-coaster overtime breakthrough last year. This felt more like an escape. This was a football team fumbling away a four-touchdown halftime lead and pulling it out with a fourth-quarter field goal and a late goal-line stand.

“A tough weekend,” McIlroy surmised for CBS cameras in Butler Cabin on April 12. “I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday. Happy to hang in there and get the job done.”

Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley places the green jacket on Rory McIlroy after the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

This Masters wasn’t won on Sunday. At the end of the second round, McIlroy was 12 under and had a six-shot lead. He was rather average from there. Playing his next 36 holes at even par, he kept dangling the green jacket above a growing cluster of contenders.

None proved good enough for long enough to snatch it out of McIlroy’s hand.

Justin Rose had the final-round lead at one point. Another wonderful Augusta opportunity for him, but evidently, Rose is just not meant to win this tournament. Tyrrell Hatton and Russell Henley got into the mix a little too late. The spotlight proved a little too much, too soon for rising star Cam Young.

Scottie Scheffler started the tournament too slowly. Characteristically, he played himself back into serious contention. He loomed all weekend, but uncharacteristically, Scheffler just wasn’t Scheffler in the final round when it mattered most.

Too many pars. Not enough magic.

This Masters was kind of a tease like that. It never quite delivered on the excitement of a stacked leaderboard set up for a free-for-all sprint to the finish line. Instead, everyone stood still enough for McIlroy to pull back ahead.

Then he successfully ran out the clock, all the way through a wayward drive on the final hole. He finished with a bogey putt to hold off Scheffler by one stroke.

“Some good play by me,” McIlroy told CBS, “and fortunate the guys didn't really come at me this year, either.”

As much as McIlroy’s 2025 victory felt historic, giving him the career grand slam with the lone major he hadn’t tamed, this one goes down as affirmation of greatness.

McIlroy didn’t rest on last year’s moment. He showed up ready for another. To be able to win two Masters in a row with admittedly flawed performances, that is greatness.

And it nearly lived in Johnson City.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Two-time Masters champion Rory McIlroy once committed to play for ETSU