The golf world turned their attention to Pebble Beach this past weekend with excitement as several tour players got back on the course for the first time this year. Scottie Scheffler returned from injury, and Rory McIlroy played in his first tour event of the season. This was a full field event, and Rory showed up in a big way, winning by two strokes (-21), two shots over his fellow countryman Shane Lowry.

McIlroy didn’t just pocket himself $3,600,000 with the victory, but it was more about how he won which was most astonishing. McIlroy played masterfully, but it was his aggressive nature off the tee which gave him the ultimate upper-hand on the field.

Just take a look at some of these drives McIlroy hit throughout the weekend at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill:

Longest drives from Rory McIlroy this week:
375 yards
353 yards
348 yards
346 yards
345 yards
341 yards
336 yards
335 yards
335 yards

He leads the TOUR in Driving Distance this week by a wide margin.
1. Rory McIlroy, 336.4 yards
2. Gary Woodland, 319.7 yards
3. Taylor Pendrith,… pic.twitter.com/op3Q554dZb

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 2, 2025

The fact he outdrove the field by more than 20 yards is astounding. On the Par 5 14th on Pebble Beach, McIlroy was carrying drives over 300 yards to leave himself a manageable iron into the green. On Sunday he drained the eagle put to essentially ice away the win, his first on tour since the Wells Fargo tournament in 2024, and create a spot for himself in golf history.

How would a win at Pebble Beach equate to him staking a claim to one of the best golfers in recent memory? Rory now joins only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to win at least 27 times on your with 4, or more, majors in the last 30 years.

🚨🏆👏🏻 #WINNING MOMENT — Rory McIlroy joins Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to win at least 27 times on TOUR with 4+ majors in the last 30 years. pic.twitter.com/LxdCJ3HCwT

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) February 2, 2025

McIlroy winning this signature event is a great feather in his proverbial cap, but larger events, and victories, still await Rory this season. Can he claim his first Masters win of his career? Can he win another major, something he hasn’t done since 2014?

His mental approach is something he claims can help him get over the proverbial hump?

“I think for me it’s always the mental side of it. That probably is the biggest barrier between me being good and being great,” McIlroy said. “You know, for the most part over the course of my career I’ve had the physical attributes and hit the ball long and been able to do things that maybe some other guys aren’t able to do, but it’s sometimes been my mind or my thought processes held me back a little bit. Again… I think I’m much better equipped now to handle whatever is thrown my way.”

At this stage of McIlroy’s career, he just wants to win more golf tournaments, and that includes major tournaments. His mental shift to playing it smart more might be the trick to getting that job done.

“At this point in my career that’s what I want to do, I want to consistently win golf tournaments. Ten years ago with a three-shot lead on the 18th hole here, would I hit 5-iron off the tee? Probably not. Just understanding the scenario and what I needed to do, it was a different case today.”

Next up on the PGA Tour is the Waste Management Phoenix Open, considered one of the most raucous crowds on tour every year, but before moving ahead, here is the leaderboard from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: