Rory McIlroy makes his pick for the Kentucky Derby

Rory McIlroy is a huge fan of horse racing and recently revealed his pick for the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby Instagram account asked prominent names from various fields for their picks for the Kentucky Derby via direct message and shared a screenshot of the same as a post on Instagram.

The 2025 Masters Champion was also one of the prominent names who received this message and shared Sovereignty as his pick for the Derby. He reshared this post on his Instagram story without any comments.

Rory McIlroy shares his pick from the Kentucky Derby. Image via Instagram @rorymcilroy

Another golfer, Min Woo Lee, also shared his pick and backed Journalism to come good. McIlroy's pick turned out to be perfect as Sovereignty held off Journalism in a thrilling contest to win the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Saturday (May 3).

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy is an ardent follower of horse racing as he met the Stallion Galileo at Coolmore.

The Racingdotcom Instagram account shared this picture on Instagram after McIlroy's 2025 Masters win and wrote:

"When Masters Champion Rory McIlroy met superstar stallion Galileo at Coolmore... 🏌🏼‍♂️. The mighty Galileo sired Group 1 winners in Australia, including Adelaide, Cape Of Good Hope, Foundry, Linton & Magic Wand ⭐️."

Rory Mcllroy won the 2025 Masters and ended his Augusta National jinx to complete his career Grand Slam and fifth Major championship.

Rory McIlroy shares his thoughts after winning the 2025 Masters

The Northern Irish golfer shared his thoughts after winning the 2025 Masters at the Augusta National in the post-round press conference.

"It feels incredible," McIlroy said. "This is my 17th time here, and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time. I think the last 10 years coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve that, yeah, I'm sort of wondering what we're all going to talk about going into next year's Masters."

"But I'm just absolutely honored and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion."

McIlroy had tied for the lead with Justin Rose after 72 holes, as both golfers carded -11 for the event. However, the Northern Irish golfer carded a birdie in the first playoff hole to win the first Major of the year.

Here's the leaderboard of the 2025 Masters (Top 20):

Playoff