Rory McIlroy has one of the most storied careers in the history of golf’s most famous tournament – The Masters.From impressing as a teenager to one of the worst collapses the game has ever seen, McIlroy finally got his hands on a Green Jacket last year.McIlroy will be hoping to become a back-to-back Masters championGettyThe 2025 edition will go down in history as one of the greatest ever, crowned by a Sunday full of thrills and spills before McIlroy eventually won out in a playoff.He will return down Magnolia Lane this week as defending champion for the first time.And now, without the burden of pursuing Grand Slam glory, is among the favourites to win it again.So, as he prepares to tee it up once more on the famous hills of Augusta National, let’s look back at some of McIlroy’s Masters highs and lows.Shot of his lifeMcIlroy’s crowning Masters moment is, of course, his history-making victory last year and there’s a host of shots to pick as his defining best.Potential candidates – his punch from the pine straw on 13 to set up eagle on Friday, the chip-in eagle on 2 on Saturday or his towering wedge over the trees on 7 on Sunday.But there’s only one winner and you already know what it is…After dropping four shots in four holes around Amen Corner, McIlroy reached the 15th having seen Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose draw level with him at the top of the leaderboard.He then pushed his drive left off the tee and found himself blocked out by trees, with water to carry on the birdie-hole Firethorn.What followed was incredible. A huge sweeping seven-iron curved around the dangerous branches, pitched on the green and rolled up towards to the hole.Nick Faldo hailed it as the ‘shot of his life’ from the booth and it’s a highlight that will be replayed over and over and over again.McIlroy’s shot on the 15th last year is among the best everGettyThat bunker hole outBefore his win, McIlroy’s greatest Masters performance came in 2022.As Scottie Scheffler eased to victory later in the day, McIlroy first provided the fireworks in a stunning Sunday round of 64.An eagle at 13 was supplemented with six other birdies as he secured solo second, his best Augusta outing to that point.The highlight of the round came on the final hole.After pushing his approach into a massive green-side bunker on Holly, McIlroy had a tough task to get the ball close to secure his par.Instead, he clipped it perfectly out of the sand, landed it up the hill on the 18th green and letting gravity take over to reel the ball into the bottom of the cup.While the shot was amazing, his reaction was even better.McIlroy threw out both arms, launched his wedge into the sand and joined with the patrons in screaming out in sheer delight.McIlroy thrilled fans in 2022GettyA debut to rememberDebutants rarely do well at the Masters such is the complexity of Augusta’s greens and the troublesome subtleties that each hole throws up.But at the age of just 19, McIlroy began his first Masters quest.He earned his invitation by breaking into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of 2008.He then produced an impressively solid week, finishing inside the top 20 thanks to going three-under-par over the weekend.It started his love affair with Augusta but very few would’ve thought it would take him 16 years to win there.McIlroy was always destined to be a Masters championGettyHistoric collapseFollowing his debut, McIlroy would miss the cut in 2010 before arriving in 2011 with a point to prove.Three brilliant days saw him heading into Sunday’s final round on 12-under, four shots clear of the chasing pack and seemingly in complete control.Sadly, an opening bogey set the tone of things to come. While he remained only one over by the turn, the 10th hole started a complete and utter collapse.A tumultuous seven on the 10th was followed by another dropped shot on 11 and a shocking double on 12 too.He then found the water on the next hole and the picture of him slumped over his driver in the serenity of the 13th tee box is one of the enduring images of modern Masters.McIlroy did win the US Open just a few months later but that 2011 collapse lingered in his mind for years at Augusta.McIlroy suffered a shocking collapse at Augusta in 2011GettyNot again?Giving how thrilling his win last year was, it easy to forget what a mess McIlroy made of his opening round.Cruising along at four-under on Thursday, McIlroy looked set to ease towards the top of the leaderboard after the first day.Instead, he inexplicably threw in two double bogeys at the 15th and 17th to reduce himself back to level-par in the blink of an eye.The ending to that round was shocking and left many people to wonder if he had blown another chance before it had even really got going.Of course, two brilliant rounds of 66 followed before he treated us to one of the greatest Masters Sundays in living memory.McIlroy endured a tough Masters in 2021GettyFather blunderAmong his plethora of missed chances, 2021 and 2023 really stung as he missed the cut on both occasions.At the 2023 Masters, many saw that year as his best situation to do well but he fluffed his lines.And two years prior, McIlroy’s struggles were summed up by him actually hitting his father Gerry with a wayward shot.McIlroy had performed well in the years before each of those missed cuts so both were met with bemusement and criticism.In the end, they were just chapters in McIlroy’s Masters story and lessons learned on his way to finally claiming victory.