After waiting over a decade to complete the career grand slam by winning last year’s Masters, Rory McIlroy underlined his status one of the greats of the game by becoming only the fourth man to win back-to-back green jackets.
Playing with the type of freedom at Augusta National that he previously felt unable to do, the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland joined Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in winning consecutive Masters’ titles.
The record books will show that McIlroy shot a fourth round 71 to finish on 12 under, one stroke clear of world no.1 Scottie Scheffler, and two clear of Tyrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Cameron Young and Justin Rose, on what will go down as another Masters Sunday for the ages.
“I can’t believe I waited 17 times to get one Green Jacket and now I get two in a row,” said McIlroy in his interview in Butler’s Cabin. “All my perseverance at this golf course over the years has started to pay off.”
PACKED LEADERBOARD
Holding a six-shot lead after opening up with rounds of 67 and 65, despite having spent large parts of the first 36 holes chipping out from the trees, McIlroy’s wild inaccuracy off the tee took its toll on Saturday, with a one-over-par 73 seeing up him fall back into a tie for the lead on -11 with Players Championship winner Cameron Young, who started his week with a 73 before adding rounds of 67 and 65.
Lurking one off the pace was Sam Burns, while Shane Lowry was two back, and in with a strong chance of adding to his 2020 Open Championship title, while Rose, who has endured three runner-up finishes in the Masters, four shots back on seven under.
And it was England’s nearly-man, 45-year-old Justin Rose, who got the fastest start, chipping in for a birdie on the first hole, and then covering the front nine in just 32 shots to make a bold move towards ending so many years of Masters hurt. Behind him, McIlroy birdied the third, but then double-bogeyed the par-3 5th and bogeyed the par-3 6th to fall back to -9, and things began to look ominous for the grand slam hero as his woes off the tee began to take their toll.
But with a packed leaderboard jostling for position behind them, there was a role reversal from the pair’s thrilling battle last year. Then, McIlroy faltered under the weight of history as a free-swinging Rose blitzed the back nine to force the extra hole. Now, the Englishman felt the pressure – dropping shots at Amen Corner’s 11th and 12th holes – to open the door to the chasing pack.
BATTLING BACK
Like many players, McIlroy loves the chase more than he does being chased, and with birdies at 7 and 8, both set up by towering drives and accurate approach play, he was soon back in the lead.
And with Young and Burns both making mistakes, McIlroy put the hammer down with birdies at the 12th and 13th, the former set up with a gutsy tee shot hit straight at the flag on the treacherous 160-yard par-3, and the latter with a booming 350-yard drive that left him with just an 8-iron approach to the green at the tricky par five.
Pars at 14, 15, 16 and 17 – all achieved with a nerveless touch around the greens – left McIlroy with a two-shot lead standing on the 18th tee. With only 450 yards of Georgia turf standing between him and a second green jacket. Never one to make his fans breathe easy, another wild tee shot with the driver saw his ball so far right that he was almost on the 10th fairway. It was so far wide that it enabled him to hook a towering recovery shot around the trees that found the front bunker, from which he extricated himself to leave two putts from 15 feet for victory. He almost needed one, his par attempt missing by just six inches, leaving a simple tap-in to claim an historic and no less emotional win that was witnessed 12 months ago.
“It was a tough weekend, but I’m so happy to hang in there and get the job done,” McIlroy said. “I wanted to come back and prove last year wasn’t a fluke.”
ROSE FADES, SCHEFFLER RALLIES
Unable to recover from his earlier mistakes, a frustrated Rose missed a two-foot par putt on 17 and finished on 10 under and was denied the fourth Masters runners-up finish of his career.
“It is another little stinger,” said Rose, whose sole major win came at the 2013 US Open. “I was by no means free and clear, and nowhere close to having the job done, but I was right in position.”
Instead, it was two-time champion Scheffler who finished as McIlroy’s nearest challenger after carving his own piece of history. The 29-year-old American, who won in 2022 and 2024, became the first player since 1942 to card a bogey-free weekend on his way to a fourth successive top-10 finish. Ultimately he paid the price for making a slow start, which has been a common theme for him in recent months.
“I knew I was going to have to do something special if I wanted to catch the leaders. I was close, but it was just a few shots here or there,” said Scheffler.
The last word belongs to Rory McIlroy, who sent out on an ominous message to his major rivals as be began to assess what the future may hold after securing his sixth major victory. “Last year I felt like the career Grand Slam was my destination. I got there and then I realised it wasn’t the destination.”
FINAL LEADERBOARD (TOP 10)
1 R. McIlroy -12
2 S. Scheffler -11
T3 R. Henley -10
T3 C. Young -10
T3 T. Hatton -10
T3 J. Rose -10
T7 S. Burns -9
T7 C. Morikawa -9
T9 M. Homa -8
T9 X. Schauffele -8
Read the full article here
