Rory McIlroy Jokes His 2025 Masters Win Means Maple Leafs Can End Stanley Cup Drought

Rory McIlroy believes the end of his long journey to complete the career Grand Slam is a sign the Toronto Maple Leafs can eventually end their-own 57-year championship drought.

"If I can win the Masters, then the Leafs can win the Stanley Cup," McIlroy joked to Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley on Wednesday, per TSN's Bob Weeks.

Pelley had just presented McIlroy with a No. 25 Leafs jersey during the RBC Canadian Open Pro-Am at TPC Toronto in Ontario.

McIlroy, 36, won the 2025 Masters after defeating Justin Rose on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

The win ended his career-long search for victory at Augusta National Golf Club and made him the sixth golfer to complete a career Grand Slam.

Dr. Bob Rotella, a sports psychologist who has worked with McIlroy for years, spoke with Golf.com's Nick Piastowski about the mentality necessary for McIlroy come back and claim victory in the playoff after missing a potential winning putt on Hole 72.

"We talked a lot about you got to be like steel. You got to be like nothing affects you," Rotella told Piastowski.

The Leafs were unable to find a similar mentality after pushing the Florida Panthers to Game 7 in the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

After claiming a dominant shutout victory in a must-win Game 6, the Leafs were rolled over in a 6-1 elimination loss.

The Leafs built their roster around some of the best regular-season players in the NHL in three-time Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews and 100-point winger Mitch Marner, but neither star has been able to carry their team to a second-round series victory during their time in Toronto.

The mentality described by Rotella could potentially be key in helping Matthews find the next level of his playoff game as the Leafs look to make another run next spring.