Top hospital blasted for pushing politics over patients — ad campaign exposes radical agenda
FIRST ON FOX: Consumers’ Research, a leading nonprofit dedicated to consumer information, is launching an advertising campaign against one of the top healthcare systems in the United States, accusing it of prioritizing “woke” politics over patient care.
Consumers’ Research is targeting Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan, with a campaign called “Ford Health Exposed” that includes a website where the group says it is spotlighting “how Henry Ford is putting politics over patients by weaving discriminatory practices into everything it does, administering harmful transgender treatments on kids, and prioritizing a radical climate agenda.”
The website points out that the Henry Ford Health website is littered with examples of “woke” ideology being promoted, including DEI, which the hospital has said is “woven into the fabric of everything we do.”
“Diversity always will be the foundation on which Henry Ford Health stands,” the organization’s website states.
VANDERBILT MED CENTER ‘HIDING’ DEI RESOURCES BEHIND PASSWORD-PROTECTED WEB PAGES: REPORT
The website also openly promotes its use of “unconscious bias training” as well as Employee Resource Groups to promote its “diversity” agenda that it says will “enhance the quality of care and comfort for each person that we serve.”
The healthcare system also promotes what it describes on its website as “supplier diversity,” where it prioritizes working with businesses that are at least 51% owned by LGBTQ+ persons or certain minority categories.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are simply not enough,” Kimberlydawn Wisdom, senior vice president of community health and equity and chief wellness and diversity officer at Henry Ford Health, said in a 2021 newsletter posted on the provider’s website.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion alone can only mitigate the damage of the past. To prevent the mistakes of the past from burdening our communities in the future, our ultimate destination must be justice.”
‘WOKEST HOSPITAL IN AMERICA?’: TOP HOSPITAL HIT WITH BLISTERING AD EXPOSING ‘POLITICAL AGENDA’
Dr. Maureen Connolly, a pediatrician and LGBTQ+ specialist with HFH, wrote an article promoting transgender treatment on kids, which stated, “Gender-affirming medical therapy and supported social transition in childhood have been shown to correlate with improved psychological functioning for gender-variant children and adolescents.”
Connolly also promoted “gender exploration” in another article posted on the HFH website that says, “If your daughter says she feels like a boy inside, let her cut her hair, call her by a different name and switch up her wardrobe.”
In addition to the agenda promoted on the website, Henry Ford Health is facing accusations of providing gender treatment to children. The hospital has engaged in sex change treatment, surgeries and puberty blocker treatment in recent years, according to a database compiled by Stop The Harm.
Fox News Digital reached out to Henry Ford Health for comment, but the hospital did not respond to the media inquiry. However, the hospital did delete several DEI sections from its website over the last 24 hours that were archived by Fox News Digital.
The ad campaign charges that HFH is “pushing irreversible sex changes on kids.”
In 2023, the Ruth Ellis Center nominated HFH for the Ludwig Community Benefit Award for “improving the well-being of their community by delivering integrated healthcare and social services to LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) youth in Detroit.”
“In 2022, Henry Ford providers at Ruth Ellis facilities cared for more than 700 LGBTQ+ patients, including 429 transgender young adults, over the course of more than 6,800 medical visits,” a press release touting the partnership between the two entities stated. “The health and wellness centers have been a source of primary care, gender affirming care, comprehensive sexual health services including HIV prevention and treatment, and behavioral health services for dozens of adolescents and young adults.”
HFH has also been involved in promoting a liberal climate agenda that included spending millions of dollars last year, according to its own website, to create and promote the Central Energy Hub as part of a push for net zero emissions.
HFH also partnered with an energy company in 2021, according to a press release on the website.
“Sustainability is an integral part of building strong, healthy communities,” Bob Riney, Henry Ford Health System’s president of healthcare operations and chief operations officer, said in the release.
“At Henry Ford, health equity is at the foundation of everything we do. It’s an unfortunate fact that low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by poor environmental conditions, which are exacerbated by climate change. By investing in clean, renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure, we aim to address health disparities and the growing impacts of climate change regionwide, especially in our historically marginalized communities.”
The Consumers’ Research campaign will also include mobile billboards outside of hospital locations in Detroit and Macomb, a billboard near the state capitol in Lansing, and chalk stencils around the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
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“Henry Ford Health is prioritizing politics over patients,” Will Hild, Consumers’ Research executive director, told Fox News Digital. “Driven by gender ideology, Henry Ford has continued performing deeply harmful and irreversible sex-change treatments on children and must be stopped,”
“The hospital’s deliberate mutilation of confused children’s bodies is being done in direct defiance of President Trump’s orders to eliminate the vile practice for good. Henry Ford Health has also committed to embedding DEI into every facet of its operation, elevating a radical ideological agenda above its fundamental duty to provide excellent scientific-based care,” Hild continued. “Considering how many resources Henry Ford has squandered on needless, extreme woke programs, the hospital has rendered itself almost indistinguishable from an activist group, not only spewing radical left-wing talking points but actively imposing these ideologies onto patients and staff. Rather than change course, Henry Ford Health has chosen to wear its transgressions with pride, a chilling testament to how far it has strayed from its original purpose. Consumers’ Research will continue to put these hospitals on blast for putting a woke agenda over patient care.”
Suspect admits why he torched governor’s mansion with family inside — and how he did it
The man who allegedly set fire to the mansion of Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn., and his family is “currently receiving treatment” at a hospital, Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) said.
Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, was first identified to police by an ex-lover after he allegedly confessed to her and “wanted her to call police to turn him in,” according to the criminal complaint obtained by Fox News. It was only a short time later that Balmer turned himself in outside Pennsylvania State Police headquarters, police said.
“Due to a medical event not connected to this incident or his arrest, Balmer was transported to an area hospital where he is currently receiving treatment,” PSP said in a statement. “He remains under PSP supervision and will be transported to the Dauphin County Prison for arraignment upon his release.”
While being interviewed by troopers, “Balmer admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro.” Balmer allegedly told investigators “he removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into Heineken bottles he found at his residence.”
PENNSYLVANIA POLICE ARREST SUSPECT AFTER GOVERNOR’S MANSION SET ON FIRE WHILE GOV JOSH SHAPIRO, FAMILY SLEPT
Balmer allegedly said he walked an hour to the governor’s mansion “with the intention of throwing his homemade Molotov cocktails into the residence.”
Troopers say Balmer admitted to scaling a perimeter fence, breaking two windows with a hammer and throwing Molotov cocktails inside. The arson suspect allegedly admitted he was aware it was a possibility that Shapiro and others were home at the time and “it was a possibility that people could be injured by his actions.”
Had Balmer come face-to-face with Shapiro, he allegedly said, “he would have beaten him with his hammer.” Following the interview, Balmer was taken into custody.
Police say the arson suspect was caught on security cameras both in and outside the mansion “wearing a black ‘Snap-On’ jacket, black boots and carrying a bag.” Troopers say they found the jacket, bag “and a small sledge hammer” at Balmer’s home.
The fire broke out around 2 a.m. Sunday after Shapiro, considered a potential presidential contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, and his family celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
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“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society,” the politician said. “And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not okay and it has to stop. We have to be better than this.”
State auditor’s own DOGE report finds $400,000,000 in wasteful government spending
EXCLUSIVE: On Monday, Mississippi state auditor Shad White will release a compilation of audits conducted by his office that tabulated a collective $400 million in waste over the course of his tenure.
“In the last few weeks, we’ve jokingly started calling ourselves MOGE, the Mississippi Office of Government Efficiency, like Elon Musk’s DOGE,” White told Fox News Digital, referring to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration.
“We approach our work with the same attention to every penny as DOGE, and I’m happy to be Mississippi’s Musk,” White said.
While the auditor’s office cannot cut any of the wasteful spending, it alerts state lawmakers to what it discovers.
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“We’ve been working on this project really for the last couple of years. And what’s encouraging right now is that President Trump and Elon Musk are doing DOGE, which has raised public awareness about the amount of fraud, waste and abuse in government,” White said in his exclusive interview.
“So, people are starting to look closely at what we’ve uncovered. In our time in the state auditor’s office, my team and I have uncovered about $400 million worth of waste.”
That figure will be broken down in an 800-page report, which White will make public later Monday.
He said that Medicaid is a major issue, in that tens of millions of dollars in subsidies are going to income-ineligible Mississippians.
One state agency was spending nearly $6,000 each on televisions, which the similarly bloated feds pay about $2,000 for similar tech, he said.
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“So, if you think the federal government is inefficient, I promise you, your state governments around the country are likely even less efficient,” he said.
Asked about slashing wasteful spending in DEI and elsewhere, White said that even in a red state like the Magnolia State, there is a lot to be discovered and trimmed down.
“[W]hen you dig into what they’re doing with all of this staff time and all of these resources, they were doing things like holding microaggression training sessions for engineers — I don’t know why we need to do that. They were handing out grants for social justice yoga for preschoolers. Just crazy stuff,” he said, as $11 million in taxpayer funding has gone to DEI at colleges alone.
In the Magnolia State, 20% of people live below the poverty line, so efficient spending of federal and other public funds is paramount, White said.
Millions of misspent dollars came from welfare appropriations, including approved community gardens that were never built, or nonprofits who pledged to use funding to help the poor but instead padded executive salaries.
“We found dollars supposed to be going to poor folks going to pay for sponsorship of beauty pageants,” he added.
“Really, I think the big-picture point here is, this kind of waste happens at every level of government. And now that DOJ is taking the lead and showing the country how much fraud, waste and abuse there is, it’s really incumbent on every single state government to take a look at their own house and make sure that that fraud, waste, and abuse isn’t happening in state government, too.”
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State auditor roles vary statutorily from state-to-state.
When asked whether White has worked with neighboring officials or if other Deep South states have collaborated on regional DOGE-type initiatives, White said that some states like Alabama have auditor roles with more limited statutory powers than his in Jackson.
But he said that Oklahoma auditor Cindy Byrd is working on a similar endeavor to uncover government waste in the Sooner State.
“We [state auditors] are in conversation with one another — and whether it’s your state auditor or a key state legislator or the governor, really, every state needs to be starting a DOGE.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Reeves for comment on White’s past work in identifying waste, fraud and abuse.
Trump’s latest trade move jolts markets, sending stocks into the green
Stocks climbed on Monday after the White House eased tariffs on smartphones, chips and computers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 100 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
Customs and Border Patrol issued new guidance on reciprocal tariff negotiations late Friday, noting the exemption of those goods from Trump’s April 2 executive order which declared a national emergency due to non-reciprocal trade practices and structural imbalances in the global trading system.
Subsequent executive orders ramped-up tariffs on China to 125%.The updated guidance, which cites a presidential memorandum issued Friday, excluded the products from Trump’s 125% China tariff and his baseline 10% global tariff on some countries. They apply to goods that left a warehouse as of April 5.
Goldman Sachs
reported a 15% rise in first-quarter profit as market volatility led to record revenue in equities trading and boosted fixed income results.
The Wall Street lender joined rivals JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley in reporting higher profits. But investors have shifted their focus on to economic projections, which are being clouded by uncertainty over tariffs that could spur inflation and trigger a recession.
Goldman’s profit rose to $4.74 billion, or $14.12 per share, for the three months ended March 31, the bank said on Monday. That compared with $4.13 billion, or $11.58 per share, a year earlier.
“While we are entering the second quarter with a markedly different operating environment than earlier this year, we remain confident in our ability to continue to support our clients,” CEO David Solomon said.
This is an excerpt from a Reuters story
After President Trump announced some exemptions on technology products and parts over the weekend, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, appearing on FOX Business Network, explained how negotiations are going, especially with China and what it means for the U.S. economy.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is higher Monday as a result.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that his administration will clarify tariff exemptions for smartphones, computers and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs in the coming week.
While speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump said the goal behind the specific tariff is to “uncomplicate” trade in the semiconductor sector.
“We wanted to uncomplicate it from a lot of other companies, because we want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country,” Trump said while traveling back to Washington, D.C., from West Palm Beach.
Trump declined to say whether some products such as smartphones might still end up being exempt, though added: “You have to show a certain flexibility. Nobody should be so rigid.”
In a Truth Social post earlier Sunday, Trump said he didn’t announce an overall tariff exemption on electronics from China on Friday, stating that the products still face the existing 20% tariff – just not the reciprocal tariffs, which are now at 145%.
He wrote that the goods are “just moving to a different” tariff bucket.
“We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations,” Trump wrote.
Fox Business’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
Chinese President Xi Jinping declared there can be no winners in a trade war as he began a diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia on Monday to shore up ties with regional trade partners after President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs.
Xi arrived in Vietnam for a two-day visit to show China’s commitment to global trade after Trump last week levied 145% tariffs against China, the world’s second-largest economy. China has responded with 125% duty on U.S. imports.
“There are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war,” Xi wrote in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media. “Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.”
Trump paused the high-level tariffs he imposed last week on nearly every other country apart from China. China has vowed not to back down in the face of the massive tariff.
After Vietnam, Xi is expected to continue his trip to Malaysia and Cambodia.
President Donald Trump said semiconductors and chips imported into the United States will be hit with specific tariffs, adding that the rate for the items will be announced within the week.
While speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump said the goal behind the specific tariff is to “uncomplicate” trade in the semiconductor sector.
“We wanted to uncomplicate it from a lot of other companies, because we want to make our chips and semiconductors
and other things in our country,” Trump said while traveling back to Washington, D.C. from West Palm Beach.
This is an excerpt of an article by FOX Business’ Elizabeth Pritchett. To read the full article by click here.
Stocks finished the final trading session of the week in the green on Friday as investors eyed the latest tariff-related developments and big bank earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 619.05 points, or 1.56%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.8% and 2%, respectively.
China announced on Friday that it will raise tariffs on American goods to 125% from 84%. China indicated that it made the move in response to the U.S. raising tariffs, but indicated it does not plan to retaliate against any potential additional U.S. tariff increases.
“The US’s imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international economic and trade rules, and also violates basic economic laws and common sense. It is a completely unilateral bullying and coercive practice,” the Chinese finance ministry said.
The White House said Friday afternoon that it’s “optimistic” China will make a deal.
White House’s new policy to ignore reporters who share their pronouns sparks debate
Even email signatures are getting caught up in the culture wars.
The Trump White House habit of dismissing reporters who use pronouns in their email signatures has stirred both support and criticism from journalists and observers.
The New York Times put a spotlight last week on the White House press office refusing to respond to emailed questions from reporters who display their pronouns, saying they deny “biological reality” and can’t be trusted to report with integrity. Other media relations figures at other government agencies gave similar responses to those who display their pronouns.
The decision for individuals to list them – for example, He/Him for a man or They/Them for someone who is transgender or doesn’t identify as male or female – is often criticized as unnecessary virtue-signaling to promote the false notion of multiple genders beyond the male-female binary, while proponents say it’s respectful to people of all identities.
TRUMP PRESS SECRETARY DOESN’T ENGAGE WITH REPORTERS USING PRONOUNS IN EMAILS, SAYS THEY DENY REALITY
The White House has the policy in place because “any reporter who chooses to put their preferred pronouns in their bio clearly does not care about biological reality or truth and therefore cannot be trusted to write an honest story,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.
The Daily Wire’s White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olahan said she supported the administration’s stance.
“Pronouns in your bio is an overtly political statement, and about sexual preference too! Wildly inappropriate for anyone in a professional context,” Olahan told Fox News Digital.
“Also, they can answer whoever they want,” Olahan continued, adding she was often ignored or simply got a “catty” response from the Biden White House when asking for comment.
John Ashbrook, a co-host of the Ruthless Podcast who sat in the “new media” seat for a recent press briefing, didn’t seem bothered.
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KAROLINE LEAVITT PRAYS BEFORE FACING REPORTERS
“No White House has ever been more transparent out of the gate,” Ashbrook told Fox News Digital.
Another White House correspondent said the situation was “amusing” and wasn’t sure how hard and fast it was as a policy, noting most reporters who cover the White House can simply approach Leavitt or other members of the press office and get an answer in person.
They also noted reporters are more likely to use text messages or Signal than email anyway. Another White House correspondent shrugged they had “no clue” what to make of the press team’s stance on pronouns.
The New York Times disparaged the policy in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying it was an excuse for evasion.
“Evading tough questions certainly runs counter to transparent engagement with free and independent press reporting,” a spokesperson said. “But refusing to answer a straightforward request to explain the administration’s policies because of the formatting of an email signature is both a concerning and baffling choice, especially from the highest press office in the U.S. government.”
Andrew Bates, who served as President Joe Biden’s deputy White House press secretary, said the Trump team was trying to divert attention from economic difficulties.
“That’s the Trump White House admitting how weak he is after shattering his top economic promises with the biggest middle-class tax hike in modern history,” he told Fox News Digital. “The subtext is, ‘So I know my tariffs are raising the everyday prices I ran on lowering and hollowing out you 401(k)s – but will you shut up and be happy if I randomly push a few reporters around?’”
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Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall believes the White House would be smart to worry about more important things, as pronouns are “not a kitchen table issue” in American homes.
“For the White House to single people out on that, I just think it’s a bad look,” Marshall said last week on “Outnumbered.”
At least one Washington Post reporter recently received replies from White House officials despite listing their pronouns in their signature, the Post reported last week.
The Trump administration has focused on gender identity issues throughout his second term, signing executive orders banning transgenders from being in the U.S. military, barring trans women from competing in women’s sports and removing gender identity language throughout the federal government.
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Popular beach destination forces beachgoers to clear one more hurdle before relaxing
Beachgoers are going to have to take one extra step before catching waves and rays of sun.
Travelers who plan to visit Sardinia, Italy are being asked to reserve a spot on the beach through an app.
The new initiative comes as the Italian island attempts to curb overtourism by implementing a digital reservation system on various beaches.
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North of the island, Cala Brandinchi and Lu Impostu beaches will cap visitors, allowing only 1,447 and 3,352 people who reserve a spot on the San Teodoro app or website.
“To access the beaches, reservations are required to receive your QRCode,” reads the website.
The site added, “Access to the beaches of Cala Brandinchi and Lu Impostu is subject to mandatory reservations in the period from June 1 [to] Sept. 30.”
On the south coast, the local Teulada council plans to implement a similar digital reservation system.
The mayor of Teulada, Angelo Milia, said, “We hope to start with the new system as early as July,” the Independent reported.
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The digital change follows a set of strict tourism rules implemented around the island over recent years.
The town of Stintino’s Pelosa requires a beach ticket and prohibits the use of regular beach towels unless those are accompanied by a straw mat, according to Euronews.
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Approximately six million Americans traveled to Italy in 2023, according to the State Department.
Actress Sofia Vergara begs for summer with cheeky, poolside bikini snap
Sofía Vergara is ready for summer, and she’s not afraid to show it.
Vergara, 52, showed off her golden tan in a sexy snap shared with her millions of social media followers.
The “Modern Family” star relaxed poolside wearing nothing but a pair of cheeky black bikini bottoms as she soaked up the sun.
The “Griselda” actress captioned the selfie in Spanish “Ya casi llega el verano! protégete con @toty,” which translates to, “Summertime is almost here! protect yourself with @toty.”
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On her Stories, Vergara paid dues to the sun and her skincare line with a snap captioned, “Protección todo el verano,” or “protection all summer.”
SOFIA VERGARA WANTS ‘EVERY PLASTIC SURGERY THAT I CAN DO’
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Vergara launched Toty, her skincare brand, in 2023 and told People magazine that she named the brand after her own childhood moniker.
“I want to create a brand that has it all,” she said. “Lips, body makeup that has sun protection, that doesn’t get on your clothes, and that you can put on your chest every day to even out. The dream is big, but we have to start little by little.”
Beauty has always been “very important” in Vergara’s life.
“I think because I’m Latin, we always grow up thinking about looking good, doing your hair, your makeup. It’s something that makes you feel good,” she said.
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“I love beauty products. I love makeup. I love clothes. And I think now that I’m older, it’s great because you know exactly what you like, what looks good on you, what doesn’t look good on you. I don’t do what is in fashion. I just do what feels good, makes me feel confident and beautiful.”
Vergara previously admitted that while she hasn’t pursued plastic surgery, she’s willing to go under the knife when the time is right.
“I feel like I’m going to do every plastic surgery that I can do when I’m ready,” she told Allure. “I wish I had more downtime; I would’ve done stuff already. [But] because I’m in front of the camera, it’s not like I can do something and then sit in my house recuperating for weeks.”
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She’s not afraid of needles, though, and has been using Botox for her neck and around her eyes “for a long time.” The Colombian star has yet to wade into “filler” waters.
“I feel filler does good when you’re really young and you want a little bit more cheeks or to plump your lips a little bit,” she said.
“At my age, I feel it’s not going to make you look younger. It is going to make you look more done. And I feel like it actually doesn’t pull you up, it kind of weighs [you down]. So I am against that, once you hit a certain age.”
She is a fan of sunscreen and has been “religious” about its application after reading an article about the dangers of sun damage.
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“If you’re tanning your face, there’s nothing in the world that you put on at night that is going to give you good skin,” Vergara said. “I feel like you have to take advantage of everything that is out there. I mean, if you care about aging; nothing wrong if you don’t care about it. It’s not the end of the world. But if you do, now there’s so much stuff out there.”
Rory McIlroy shares advice for 4-year-old daughter after historic Masters win
Rory McIlroy admitted in his post-final round interview with reporters that dropping to his knees after watching his playoff birdie putt sink to win the 89th Masters tournament was pure relief.
“That was all relief, there wasn’t much joy in that reaction,” he said when one reporter asked what emotions he was feeling when he defeated Justin Rose in the first Masters playoff since 2017. “It was all relief. Then, the joy came pretty soon after that. I’ve been coming here 17 years, and it was a good decade-plus of emotion that came out of me there.”
McIlroy waited 11 years to not only break his major-win drought, but, more importantly, etch his name alongside the five golf greats who collected the career Grand Slam with every major victory on their resume.
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McIlroy has been hearing it from the likes of Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, all of whom have the Grand Slam, for years. They believed he would win at Augusta National Golf Club one day, and after coming so close in the past, McIlroy admitted feeling slightly skeptical about ever getting the green jacket fitted for himself.
However, as he stood up on the podium, the green jacket already placed on his back by the 2024 champion Scottie Scheffler, he looked over at his daughter, Poppy, and delivered quite the heartfelt message after living it out on Sunday.
“Over to my left, my family, my team,” McIlroy said while holding back some tears. “They’ve been on this journey with my the whole way through. They know the burden I’ve carried to come here every year and try and try and try again.
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“The one thing I would say to my daughter, Poppy, who’s sitting over there: never give up on your dreams. Never, ever give up on your dreams. Keep coming back, keep working hard, and if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. Love you.”
McIlroy entered his 17th Masters appearance carrying the same weight on his shoulders of not having won a major since the 2014 Open Championship, and he posted back-to-back rounds of 66 on Friday and Saturday to enter Sunday with a two-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau was just one of the golfers who has hoisted a major during the 11-year drought McIlroy has had to endure, coming at the 2024 U.S. Open in what was a brutal meltdown for the latter.
“The U.S. Open last year was just awful,” McIlroy mentioned when asked the low point of his major drought, while also adding the 2022 Open Championship loss to Cam Smith at St. Andrews.
“The losses are hard, and again, so proud of myself that I keep coming back and put myself in these positions to win championships.”
It was an emotional and physical roller coaster for McIlroy, who did not make it easy on himself throughout the round. It was up and down throughout, and just when it appeared he was in full control on the second nine, he faltered at the 13th with an approach that landed in the water.
From there, McIlroy would get his lead back heading into the 18th tee, needing only par to let all the weight on his shoulder go. However, he missed the short par putt, which led to a sudden-death playoff with Rose, who was also searching for his first green jacket in 20 appearances at The Masters.
However, McIlroy never lost faith, and he said his longtime caddy, Harry Diamond, helped him on the golf cart ride back to the 18th tee box.
“After scoring, Harry and I were walking to the golf cart to bring us back. He said, ‘Well, pal, we would’ve taken this on Monday morning.’ Absolutely we would’ve. That was a nice reset. ‘You would’ve given your right arm to be in a playoff at the start of the week.’ That reframed it for me.”
McIlroy hit the same exact tee shot he did on his 72nd hole of the tournament, and his approach was much better this time, sloping back down to a two-foot birdie putt.
After Rose’s miss, McIlroy had the chance to turn dreams into reality, and he did not waste it this time.
As one would expect, McIlroy could not contain his emotions, and the tears continued to flow as he hugged his wife and daughter, as well as many others on his team, as he made his way to Butler Cabin.
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It has been a long 11 years, filled with trials and tribulations. Although McIlroy pointed out still playing some fantastic golf along the way, he knew he would always have something to prove if he didn’t capture that green jacket.
McIlroy has nothing more to prove now.