Lessons in Resilience: What we can learn from Rory McIlroy’s win at this year’s Masters. Resilience is often defined as our ability to bounce back from tough times, or even triumph in the face of adversity (Clarke & Nicholson, 2010).
Last week, Rory McIlroy won one of the golfing world’s major titles – the 2025 Masters at the Augusta National Tournament, showing incredible resilience along the way.
For anyone who’s not a golfing fan, you probably won’t know how incredibly close McIlroy has been to winning this title previously, nor how he has suffered repeated heartbreak over the last 11 years in a career that’s been described as having ‘exhilarating highs and the devastating lows’. In this year’s Augusta tournament, he was almost down and out several times. He was described as having a ‘nightmare start’, and he had four double bogeys across the tournament. No player before him had ever had four double bogeys and won. And the Augusta Masters has been going since 1934!
Today, we dive into the world of golf – specifically Rory McIlroy’s world – and share some of our favourite tips from Bob Rotella, Sports Psychologist, who is credited as being a key factor in helping Rory strengthen his mindset and resilience, and ultimately, his performance on the course.
Tip 1. Develop selective amnesia for the bad, and dial up happy for the good – In our resilience course ‘Reconnecting with Positive Emotion’, we often use the phrase ‘positive emotions are like Teflon, and negative emotions are like Velcro’. Because negative emotions tend to stick more easily, it can be helpful to counter them by attaching strong positive emotions to your ‘good shots’ (ie. your wins, successes or positive experiences at work). Sport Psychologist Bob Rotella talks about having instant amnesia for your mistakes and a long-term memory for your good shots and putts. So next time you have a win at work – try spending some more time allowing that feeling of joy, pride, satisfaction, or happiness to really sink in.
Tip 2. Get your mind in the right place – In our resilience program on optimism and reframing, we begin our session looking at the ‘cognitive triangle’, which neatly illustrates how our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours affect one another. By reframing automatic negative thoughts into more positive thoughts, we can change our emotions and our behaviour. In Bob’s opinion, your emotions tend to fall into place if your mind is clear. And once your emotions and mind are in the right place, you can play the game the way you know you’re capable of doing. We teach a range of tactics and strategies on our resilience programs to help clear the mind and maintain a positive mindset. Forbes explores some of these in ‘5 Ways To Foster A Positive Mindset In Your Workplace’.
Tip 3. Focus on enjoying the journey and let the results follow – Before the tournament, McIlroy spoke with Rotella about trying to chase a feeling on the course, rather than getting too much into results and outcomes. Sport psychologists talk a lot about focusing on the process, not the outcome, once you have mastered the skill and ability. In Bob’s view, ‘It’s about getting people to learn how to get out of their own way so they can do something they know how to do’.
Tip 4. Explore creative ways to help you switch off – This was an important factor in Rory’s preparation for the Masters. Properly switching off gives our minds time to rest and reset. In the lead-up to the Masters, Rory’s switching off tactics included reading a novel (John Grisham’s The Reckoning in case you’re interested); watching period drama Bridgerton and the Disney animation Zootopia; and prioritising family time at the end of the day. Research shows that taking time to mentally disconnect from work is a key driver for wellbeing. In our programs on resilience, we encourage everyone to find ways to effectively switch off from work. Often, an effective way to do this is to ‘switch to’ another activity (as Rory perfectly illustrates in his examples).
Tip 5. Mistakes will happen – it’s what you do next that counts – In Bob Rotella’s view, the winner in golf is often the one who most effectively deals with their mistakes. It’s something he worked on with Rory McIlroy. You could hear this in how Rory spoke about the ups and downs of his tournament: “I wasn’t going to let two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week.” Shooting for perfection does not raise your game. Aiming for perfection creates pressure. On the golf course, or at work, when a mistake happens try and focus on the present. Recognise that your reaction is your choice. You can choose to dwell on a bad shot or can choose to stay calm and composed. Bob suggests that “calm, relaxed, focused” should be your mantra. If you want to explore what this mantra means in practice, read our blog The Even-Keeled Leader. Our website also has a range of free composure exercises you can try.
Want to know more about resilience?
There are many lessons we can take from elite sport into the corporate world. If you’d like to read more on this topic, take a look at some of our past blogs that have covered leadership lessons from the Tour de France and the Women’s World Cup.
‘The Resilience Gym: Building Strength to Tackle Change and Challenge’
On 30 April 2025, our Principal Consultant Lisa Mayocchi will be leading a forum on ‘The Resilience Gym: Building Strength to Tackle Change and Challenge’. We’re partnering with DfP Recruitment to deliver this forum. To find out more or to book a place, go to the DfP Events page.
About the Author: Dr Lisa Mayocchi has over 20 years’ experience in the UK and Australia, helping to improve leadership, culture, resilience, wellbeing and engagement in sectors including health, education, justice, and financial regulation. With a Doctorate in Organisational Psychology, Lisa has published on stress and coping, career transitions, transferable skills, and the experience of high-performance athletes.