Rory McIlroy ended his wait for a fifth major title and entered the history books by becoming only the sixth player to seal the Grand Slam thanks to a play-off victory over Justin Rose at a rollercoaster Masters.
The 35-year-old entered Sunday’s final round at the iconic Augusta National Golf Club with a two-shot advantage at the top of the leaderboard but that gap soon vanished after a horror double-bogey at the first that gave the early advantage to American Bryson DeChambeau. But the Northern Irishman recovered during the front nine with three birdies in the next seven holes to give himself a healthy four-shot cushion over the chasing pack going into the back nine.
McIlroy yet again let his lead disappear with dropped shots at the 11th, 13th, and 14th reviving hope to the rest of the competition. He took a narrow one-shot lead to the final hole but missed the chance to seal victory in regulation after missing a five-foot par putt to close with a one-over 73 and fall back to 11 under.
While the likes of DeChambeau and Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg faded and World No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler unable to put any significant pressure on the leader, it was 2013 U.S. Open Champion Justin Rose who produced a sublime back-nine performance as he birdied six of the final eight holes including the 18th to card a final-round 66 and force a play-off with McIlroy.
Both returned to the 18th where McIlroy held his nerve to defeat the Englishman in the play-off and claim a famous victory becoming the first European to collect the full set of major championships, joining a list of illustrious names featuring Americans Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods and South Africa’s Gary Player.
An emotional McIlroy dropped to his knees and broke down in tears after sinking the winning putt, ending an 11-year wait for his fifth major title and finally claiming the Green Jacket on his 17th Masters appearance.
“It feels incredible,” he said following his triumph at Augusta. “This is my 17th time here, and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time. I think the last 10 years coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve.
“I’m sort of wondering what we’re all going to talk about going into next year’s Masters. But I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.
“I would say it was 14 years in the making, from going out with a four-shot lead in 2011, feeling like I could have done it got there. There was a lot of pent-up emotion that just came out on that 18th green. A moment like that makes all the years and all the close calls worth it.”
Some of the world’s biggest names in the celebrity world praised McIlroy for his achievement. Tiger Woods, the youngest ever player to achieve the Grand Slam, went on X (formerly Twitter) to say: “Welcome to the club @McIlroyRory. Completing the grand slam at Augusta is something special. Your determination during this round, and this entire journey has shown through, and now you’re a part of history. Proud of you!”
The likes of film stars Ben Stiller, NFL icon Patrick Mahomes, and tennis great Rafael Nadal also congratulated McIlroy over social media.
It was so close yet so far for Rose who once again suffered play-off heartbreak at Augusta after he was also defeated in a play-off by Spain’s Sergio Garcia in the 2017 iteration of the event. But the former World No. 1 gave credit to McIlroy for his performance and the season he is having.
“He kind of gave me an opportunity on 18 from the fairway” Rose said. “That was nice of him. But then he closed the door beautifully on 18 with two great swings when it mattered most for him.
“What he’s really learned to do this year is play much more controlled golf, and obviously it’s paying off for him. He’s having an unbelievable season.”
2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed sealed third on 9 under a shot ahead of Scheffler in fourth while Dechambeau, who was in contention entering the final round, waned as the day went on to finish T5 on 7 under alongside South Korea’s Im Sung-jae.
When is the next major?
The next major on the men’s calendar is the PGA Championship taking place between 15-18 May at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina.