After waiting more than a decade to complete the career slam by winning last year’s Masters, Rory McIlroy underlined his status as one of the game’s greats by becoming only the fourth man to win consecutive green jackets.
Playing with the kind of freedom at Augusta National he felt unable to do before, the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland joined Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in winning back-to-back Masters titles.
The record books will show 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, in 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’m getting two in a row,” McIlroy said in an interview with Butler’s Cabin. “All my patience on this golf course over the years has started to pay off.”
SUPERIOR LEADERBOARD
Trailing by six shots after opening rounds of 67 and 65, despite spending large parts of the first 36 holes coming off the tee, McIlroy’s poor quality paid off on Saturday, with an over-par 73 seeing him move back into a tie for the lead at -11 before his Junior Players Championship winner in week 7 started the tournament. 67 and 65.
Leading the way was Sam Burns, while Shane Lowry was back, with a strong chance of adding to his 2020 Open Championship title, while Rose, who endured a second-place finish at the Masters, was four shots back at seven under.
And it was almost England’s man, Justin Rose, 45 years old, who got off to a quick start, birdied the first hole, then closed nine in 32 shots to brave the years of injury at the Masters. Behind him, McIlroy birdied the third, but then doubled the par-3 5th and bogeyed the par-3 6th to get back to -9, and things began to look bleak for the grand slam champion as his woes on the tee began to take their toll.
But with a packed leaderboard jockeying for position behind them, there was a reversal of fortune in last year’s exciting battle for the pair. After that, McIlroy faltered under the weight of history as a free-swinging Rose bogeyed the back nine to force an extra hole. Now, the Englishman felt the pressure – teeing off on Amen Corner’s 11th and 12th holes – to open the door to a chasing pack.
IT IS COMING BACK
Like many players, McIlroy prefers the chase to the chase, and with birdies on 7 and 8, both set up with high drives and accurate play, he quickly moved back into the lead.
And with Young and Burns both making mistakes, McIlroy put the hammer down with birdies on the 12th and 13th, the former hitting the flag on a tricky 160-yard par 3, and the latter making a 350-yard drive that left him with a tricky 8-hole green.
Pars on 14, 15, 16 and 17 – all achieved with a no-nonsense touch around the green – left McIlroy with a two-shot lead standing on the 18th tee. Only 450 yards of Georgia turf stood between him and the second green jacket. Never one to let his fans breathe easy, one shot by the driver saw his ball right until he was almost on the 10th fairway. It was so wide that he was able to pull a big recovery shot around the trees that found the front shelter, where he pulled out to leave two putts from 15 feet to win. He almost needed one, his leveling effort missing by just six inches, leaving him a click away from a historic and no less emotional achievement than seen in the past 12 months.
“It was a tough weekend, but I’m very happy to hang in there and get the job done,” said McIlroy. “I wanted to come back and prove that last year was not a mistake.”
ROSE KILLS, SCHEFFLER MEETINGS
Unable to recover from his earlier mistakes, a frustrated Rose missed a two-foot par putt on 17 and finished 10 under and was denied a fourth career Masters finish.
“It’s another little stinger,” said Rose, whose only major win came at the 2013 US Open. “I wasn’t comfortable and clear, and nowhere near having the job done, but I was in the right mood.”
Instead, it was two-time champion Scheffler who finished as McIlroy’s closest rival after setting his record. The 29-year-old American, who won in 2022 and 2024, became the first player since 1942 to score a bogey-free weekend en route to a fourth straight top-10. He finally paid the price for making a slow start, which has been a common theme for him in recent months.
“I knew I had to do something special if I wanted to catch the leaders.
The last word belongs to Rory McIlroy, who has sent a bad message to his biggest rivals as it begins to explore what the future holds after securing his sixth major victory. “Last year I felt like the Grand Slam was my destination.
FINAL LEADERS BALL (10TH SAFE)
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. Hot -9
T7 C. Morikawa -9
T9 M. Homa -8
T9 X. Schauffele -8
