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Mark Schlabach
Augusta, Ga. – Rory McIlroy‘s long, painful wait for the career Grand Slam is finally over.
And the greatest achievement of his career was as nerve-racking and dramatic as the near misses that came before it.
The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland overcame a shaky start — and even more perilous finish — in the final round of the 89th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday to defeat Justin Rose in the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to finally win a green jacket and become only the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam.
McIlroy joins Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to capture the four major championships in the Masters era.
“This is my 17th time here, and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said. “I think the last 10 years coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve that, yeah, I’m sort of wondering what we’re all going to talk about going into next year’s Masters.”
In the playoff on the par-4 18th, both players hit their tee shots in the fairway. Rose’s approach from 187 yards nearly hit the hole on the fly, and his ball bounced 15 feet past. McIlroy’s second shot was even better, landing on the slope above the hole, with his ball rolling back four feet from the cup, as the patrons surrounding the green chanted his name.
After taking several minutes to read the putt, Rose’s birdie putt failed to break and stayed right. With a second chance to capture the green jacket he’d always wanted — he’d missed a 5-footer on the 72nd hole — McIlroy didn’t miss again.
McIlroy threw his putter in the air and put his head in his hands. He fell to his knees and wept before hugging his caddie, Harry Diamond. He found his wife, Erica, and daughter, Poppy, and was still crying as he made the long walk from the 18th green to the clubhouse, as thousands of patrons cheered him on.
Later, as McIlroy walked to the practice green for the trophy presentation, he hugged his putting coach, former PGA Tour player Brad Faxon, and told him, “What a rollercoaster.”
“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 gotten it done there,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, 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.”
McIlroy thanked his family and team while accepting the trophy, just before he slipped on his green jacket.
“They’ve been on this journey with me the whole way through,” McIlroy said. “They know the burden that I’ve carried to come here every year and try and try and try again.”
McIlroy did just enough in the final 18 holes to join that exclusive club, posting a 1-over 73 to finish 11 under, which tied Rose, who chased him down with a 6-under 66 to force the first playoff at the Masters since 2017.
Rose also competed in that playoff, falling to Spain’s Sergio Garcia on the first hole.
McIlroy had a chance to capture a green jacket on the 72nd hole. His tee shot safely found the fairway, but then his approach flared to the right and landed in a greenside bunker. He calmly chipped out to about 5 feet. His par putt slid past the hole on the low side, sending him into a playoff against Rose.
Liv Golf’s Patrick Reedthe 2018 Masters champion, finished third at 9 under with a 3-under 69 on Sunday. World No. 1 golfer Scottie Schefflerwho was trying to win a third green jacket in four years, finished fourth at 8 under after posting a 69. Bryson DeChambeau (3-over 75) and Sungjae in (69) tied for fifth at 7 under.
It was McIlroy’s 11th attempt at finishing the career Grand Slam, most among those who have done it, and for a while on Sunday it seemed like he’d have to wait another year to try again in 2026 after he squandered a four-stroke lead in a thrilling second nine.
On the verge of collapsing at the Masters again, McIlroy delivered one of the most memorable shots of his career on the par-4 17th. Rose was already in the clubhouse as the co-leader at 11 under, so McIlroy needed to birdie one of the last two holes to avoid a sudden-death playoff.
After hitting a 248-yard drive down the right side of the fairway, McIlroy smacked an iron and urged his ball to “go, go, go!” as he followed it up the fairway. His ball bounced on the green and rolled 2 feet from the cup. He made the birdie to go to 12 under, one in front of Rose.
It seemed it would be enough — until McIlroy missed the short putt on the 18th.
It’s McIlroy’s fifth major championship victory and his first in more than a decade. He also won the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship and 2014 Open Championship.
McIlroy made the turn at 1-under 35 and was the first golfer to reach 13 under. He added another birdie on the par-4 10th to maintain a four-stroke lead.
But then McIlroy gave the golfers chasing him a prayer of coming back when he made a mess of two of the holes at Augusta National’s iconic Amen Corner. On the par-4 11th, McIlroy’s approach nearly went into the pond in front of the green. His ball stopped on top of the bank. He chipped to 10 feet and missed the putt. A bogey dropped him to 13 under.
After making par on the par-3 12th, disaster struck on the par-5 13th. McIlroy took a conservative strategy after hitting a 300-yard drive down the fairway. Instead of going for the green, he laid up his approach to 86 yards. Then he hit one of the worst wedge shots of his career. His ball sailed nowhere near his target, bounced twice on the bank and fell into a tributary of Rae’s Creek.
“I wanted to cry for him,” said DeChambeau, who was playing with McIlroy. “I mean, as a professional, you just know to hit it in the middle of the green. I can’t believe he went for it or must have just flared it. But I’ve hit bad shots in my career, too, and it happens.
“When you’re trying to win a major championship, especially out here, Sunday of Augusta, the Masters, you have to just do it and get the job done and do it right. There were times where it looked like he had full control and at times where it’s like, ‘What’s going on?'”
After a one-stroke penalty, McIlroy chipped to 11 feet. He missed the putt and carded a double-bogey 7. His lead over Rose was down to one.
Then, on the par-4 14th, McIlroy pushed his tee shot into the trees on the right, and his approach was short of the green. He chipped to about 10 feet. His par putt seemed like it was going to break into the hole, but stopped about an inch from the cup. Another bogey dropped him to 10 under and in a three-way tie with Rose and Ludvig Åberg.
McIlroy took a two-stroke lead over DeChambeau into the final round, but it was gone after he made a double-bogey on the first hole.
McIlroy is the first Masters champion to card four double-bogeys in a tournament (he had two in the first round).
