Rory McIlroy spent 2025 at the center of golf’s biggest moments, and Google’s Year in Search confirms just how magnetic his season was.
The five-time major winner ranked as the second most-searched athlete in the world, trailing only boxing champion Terence Crawford and ahead of NFL quarterback Shedeur Sanders in Google’s global athlete trends.
Golf’s presence in Google’s sports lists was further underlined by the Ryder Cup featuring among the year’s most-searched sporting events, reflecting how McIlroy and Team Europe helped push the game into the digital spotlight.
McIlroy’s huge 2025 season
McIlroy delivered one of the defining campaigns of his career in 2025, finally completing the career grand slam with a dramatic Masters victory over Justin Rose in a playoff. He added PGA Tour titles at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship, reinforcing his status as one of the sport’s dominant forces in regular-season events.
On the DP World Tour, McIlroy won the Irish Open and the Race to Dubai for the seventh time, capped by a playoff loss to Matt Fitzpatrick at the DP World Tour Championship after a late eagle to extend the tournament. He also played a starring role in Europe’s historic away Ryder Cup win at Bethpage Black, earning 3.5 points and helping secure the team’s first road victory since 2012.
Not just a Rory phenomenon
Golf’s surge in search interest was not limited to McIlroy. In the United States, Justin Rose cracked Google’s top 10 most-searched athletes list, joining a field otherwise dominated by NFL, NBA, and boxing names. Rose’s position at No. 10 came on the back of his playoff loss to McIlroy at the Masters, a FedExCup Playoffs win, and a strong Ryder Cup performance for Europe.
The Ryder Cup itself ranked fifth among the top global sporting events on Google, underscoring how team golf and its star players drove conversation beyond traditional leaderboards.
The complete lists
Global top 10
Terence Crawford (boxing)
Rory McIlroy (golf)
Shedeur Sanders (football)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (basketball)
Jalen Hurts (football)
Manny Pacquiao (boxing)
Alexander Ovechkin (ice hockey)
Cooper Flagg (basketball)
Stefon Diggs (football)
Cam Skattebo (football)
Top 10 in America
Shedeur Sanders (football)
Terence Crawford (boxing)
Cooper Flagg (basketball)
Cam Skattebo (football)
Micah Parsons (football)
Jaxson Dart (football)
Sophie Cunningham (basketball)
Shilo Sanders (football)
Jalen Carter (football)
Justin Rose (golf)
Top 5 Global Sports Events
FIFA Club World Cup (football)
Asia Cup (cricket)
ICC Champions Trophy (cricket)
ICC Women’s World Cup (cricket)
Ryder Cup (golf)