Rory McIlroy's second Masters title will be recounted in book reprint

Timing is everything in the golf swing. So it has been for Alan Shipnuck and his latest best-selling book, "Rory: The Heartache and Triumph of Golf's Most Human Superstar," about six-time major champion Rory McIlroy.

Shipnuck, who has written biographies of Phil Mickelson, Rich Beem and Christina Kim, plus books on controversies involving the Augusta National Golf Club admitting female members and the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf war, already had a publisher and was in the process of writing the biography on McIlroy before April of 2025.

Patrons look at the Masters scoreboard at the end of the round during the third round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

The sea of green chairs around the 18th green ahead of the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Jake Knapp takes a shot on the first fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

The 10th green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Tommy Fleetwood lines up his shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Ian Finnis, Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie, waits in the walkway after the fourth hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Patrick Reed takes a shot on the first fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Collin Morikawa plays a shot from a bunker on the first hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Brooks Koepka high-fives Mary Bracken Green, 10, of Augusta, as he walks to the fifth tee box during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Wyndham Clark plays a shot from the pine straw on the third hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Scottie Scheffler and Haotong Li walk up the first fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Patrons look at the Masters scoreboard at the end of the round during the third round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Patrons look at the Masters scoreboard at the end of the round during the third round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

The sea of green chairs around the 18th green ahead of the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Jake Knapp takes a shot on the first fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

The 10th green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Tommy Fleetwood lines up his shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Ian Finnis, Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie, waits in the walkway after the fourth hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Patrick Reed takes a shot on the first fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Collin Morikawa plays a shot from a bunker on the first hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Brooks Koepka high-fives Mary Bracken Green, 10, of Augusta, as he walks to the fifth tee box during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Wyndham Clark plays a shot from the pine straw on the third hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

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Photos: Masters 2026 final round Sunday at Augusta National

Scottie Scheffler and Haotong Li walk up the first fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

McIlroy then won his first Masters title to complete the Grand Slam, giving the book a powerful climax. "Rory" is like Shipnuck's previous works: highly readable, full of insight (his account of the culture of high-level junior golf in Europe is eye-opening) and downright fun.

"Rory" got a soft release during the week of The Players Championship when Shipnuck held a book signing at the Jacksonville Beach Books-A-Million. It went on sale worldwide on April 7 and sales have been so good that Shipnuck's publisher, Avid Reader Press (a division of Simon and Schuster) has a second printing in the works.

Inside Rory McIlroy’s 2025 Masters An excerpt from Alan Shipnuck’s new biography

McIlroy then won his second Masters last week, in dramatic fashion, as was his 2025 playoff victory over Justin Rose.

Go figure.

"There has definitely been some good fortune," said Shipnuck, who resides in Carmel, Calif. "I wrote my first book, on Rich Beem, in 2001 and two years later, he beat Tiger Woods in the PGA. You try to get ahead of what's happening in the golf world. I'm always looking forward. But you can never anticipate everything."

Shipnuck said the books' second edition and paperback versions will have an extra chapter on McIlroy's latest Masters title, in which he blew a six-shot lead, then rallied from two shots behind in the final round to edge Scottie Scheffler by one shot.

"Rory: The Heartache and Triumph of Golf's Most Human Superstar," is the latest book by author Alan Shipnuck. The story of McIlroy's second Masters victory last week will be told in an upcoming reprint of the book.

"We're certainly going to bring Rory's story up to date," he said. "The next batch of hardbacks will get printed in a few weeks."

Shipnuck said McIlroy has a knack for delivering drama in his biggest victories. Three of his six major championships and both of his Players Championships have come by one shot or in playoffs.

"His press conference on Friday [when McIlroy took his six-shot lead] was like a Sunday press conference for a winner," Shipnuck said. "It was like, 'he's cracked the code, it's over.' That was the energy. He's always better as a pursuer than a front-runner. It's in his personality, and we saw that after he got behind on Sunday."

But after regaining the lead and having his best round of the tournament off the tee, McIlroy had to provide one more ounce of drama, when he sliced his drive on the 18th tee into the trees, had to carve another shot around one large tree and into the greenside bunker, and play for a bogey to win by two, when a double would have put him in a playoff with Scheffler.

"That was the worst drive he's hit in competition in God knows how long," Shipnuck said. "But there's always a window at Augusta and he found it. When he hit it, you immediately thought of Phil at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open but Rory found a way."

Shipnuck said it's hard to tell at the moment who the subject of his next book might be. He's been averse to writing about Tiger Woods because Woods' guarded personality and inner circle allow no cracks for a writer to gain any insight, even for one as dogged as Shipnuck.

He said he may be intrigued about a Bryson DeChambeau book, but again, Shipnuck said it would be difficult.

"Bryson is intriguing but he's also weirdly private," Shipnuck said.

Scottie Scheffler? Shipnuck said a great biography needs "tension in the narrative," which at the moment doesn't exist with Scheffler, certainly through no fault of Scheffler's.

"Scottie is a great person, a great American," Shipnuck said. "We all want our daughter to marry him but I don't think there's a book there. There was tension in the books on Phil and Rory."

Rory McIlroy continues trend

When McIlroy edged Scheffler last week at Augusta National, it was the ninth tournament in the last 11 on the PGA Tour where the winner was decided by one shot or in sudden death.

And after only three players in the first 14 events held onto the lead or a share of the lead through 54 holes to win, the last two have been Gary Woodland in Houston and McIlroy at the Masters convert their lead to a victory.

The veterans have also kept a firm grip on the winning trophy in most weeks. There have been only two first-time winners, Jacob Bridgeman at The Genesis Invitational and Ricky Castillo in Puerto Rico.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Rory McIlroy Masters repeat win to be added to biography