On the Monday before the University of Virginia men’s golf team headed to the West Coast to complete its best season in program history, it gathered at Birdwood Golf Course and heard from the man Rory McIlroy credits for helping him finally win the Masters.
“They were very interested in all of the stories about Rory,” world-renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella said. “It made it very easy to get their attention about attitude and the mind, and getting them to go out there and have fun believing in themselves.”
On Wednesday night in Carlsbad, California, UVA fell to Oklahoma State University in the NCAA championship match. It ended a magical week for the Cavaliers that included wins over the previous two national champions – Auburn University and the University of Florida – in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
Although they didn’t win it all, Virginia, which fielded its first men’s golf team in 1906, had never advanced that far in the NCAA Tournament.
The 2025 UVA men’s golf team stands with their national runners-up trophies, the team’s best-ever finish. (Photo by Tim Cowie, UVA Athletics)
“I have to give a lot of credit to Dr. Bob Rotella, who works with our guys,” UVA coach Bowen Sargent said Tuesday, following the win over Florida. “Obviously, these guys have to implement what he says and preaches. When you get in moments like this, it’s usually more mental than physical. They did a great job of listening and doing the things that he teaches us.”
Rotella is hardly a stranger to UVA sports and the University at large. He served as a professor and the director of UVA’s sports psychology department for more than two decades. The Charlottesville area resident has worked with many Cavalier teams, most notably the 1983-84 men’s basketball squad that used his visualization tactics during their surprise run to the Final Four.
But it’s in golf circles where Rotella is best known, as his client list includes established PGA players such as McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Darren Clarke, Jim Furyk, Padraig Harrington and Davis Love III. At the college level, he’s been a longtime aide to Sargent, who just made history in his 21st season in Charlottesville.
In addition to this year’s success at the NCAA championship tournament, the Wahoos also won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for the first time.
