Tied for the lead heading into the final round of the Masters, Rory McIlroy fell three shots behind at one point, but never gave up.
Instead, the Irishman made four birdies in a seven-hole stretch while those ahead of him faltered badly on the back nine of Augusta National Golf Club.
That enabled him to re-take the lead and win the Masters for the second consecutive year, allowing him to complete an exclusive foursome of back-to-back Masters winners with Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Nick Faldo.
“I just can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket and I get two in a row,” said McIlroy, who shot a final-round 1-under-par 71 for a 12-under total and a one-shot victory over two-time champion Scottie Scheffler. “I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off. It was a tough weekend.”
After shooting even par in his first two rounds, Scheffler shot 65-68 on his bogey-free weekend. Four others tied for third at 10 under, including third-round co-leader Cameron Young, who closed with a 73.
Strong Tournament Start for McIlroy
McIlroy opened with rounds of 67 and 65 for a six-shot lead. He shot 73 on Saturday while Young shot 65 to tie him at 11 under.
“I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday, but I’m just so happy to hang in there and get the job done,” said McIlroy, who earned $4.5 million for his sixth career major.
After making a birdie on the third hole to pull back into a tie with Young, who birdied the second hole, McIlroy three-putted from less than five feet for a double-bogey on the par-3 fourth hole. Two holes later, he bogeyed the par-3 sixth to drop to 9 under.
Meanwhile, Justin Rose birdied four of the last five holes on the front nine to get to 12 under. But Rose, who lost a playoff to McIlroy last year, bogeyed holes 11 and 12 to give up the lead. By then, McIlroy had birdied holes 7 and 8 to get to 11 under.
“I think if I hadn’t birdied the seventh and eighth holes, I would have had to push a little bit,” McIlroy said. “But Justin bogeying 11 and 12 … I never felt like I was out of it. People are inevitably going to make mistakes here and there.”
On the always challenging 155-yard par-3 12th, where Masters leaders have lost the tournament, McIlroy hit the best tee shot of the day, his 9-iron settling seven feet from the cup, and he sank the birdie putt.
That was followed by a two-putt birdie on the par-5 13th after McIlroy hit a titanic tee shot and reached the green on the 545-yard hole with a 6-iron. That put him at 13 under, and he safely navigated the closing holes.
“After the bogey at 6, I said, ‘Okay, if I can get to 14 under, I think I’ve got a chance of winning this tournament. I didn’t quite get there, I got to 13, but 13 was good enough standing on the 18th tee,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy’s Putt of the Day
Perhaps more impressive than his tee shot on 12 was McIlroy’s putt from off the back of the green on the par-3 16th. Reminiscent of Tiger’s incredible chip-in on 16 when he won the 2005 Masters, McIlroy putted away from the hole, then watched the ball roll down the slope to within inches of the cup for a tap-in par.
His only stumble coming in was on the 18th, where, with a two-shot lead, he drove into the woods, punched into a greenside bunker, splashed the ball onto the green, and two-putted for a bogey and the victory.
“It’s nice to have that two-shot cushion instead of the one I had last year,” McIlroy said.
