It was almost certainly not the way he drew it up, and he definitely added some stress and drama for himself, but Rory McIlroy joined one of golf’s most exclusive clubs on Sunday with his second consecutive Masters championship.
McIlroy overcame some rocky moments all week, including a potentially disastrous drive off the 18th tee, to finish the day with a 71 and finish the tournament 12-under, edging out world No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler by just one stroke.
Rory McIlroy joins rare list of back-to-back Masters
The list of two-time Masters winners is an incredibly short list, now consisting of just 19 golfers.
The list of golfers to win it in consecutive years is even shorter, and it now consists of only McIlroy (2025 and 2026), Jack Nicklaus (1965 and 1966), Nick Faldo (1989 and 1990) and Tiger Woods (2001 and 2002).
McIlroy is the first to do it in more than two decades.
It adds to his already impressive resume that now includes six major championships, including two each at the Masters and PGA Championship.
Overall, it was a roller coaster of a week for him. He seemed to be in complete control of the tournament through the first 36 holes, opening up a six-stroke lead going into Saturday. Historically, that sort of lead has been insurmountable at Augusta. But thanks to a 73 on Saturday, his lead completely evaporated and sent him into Sunday’s final round tied for the top spot.
One of the biggest issues for him all weekend came on his drives, where he struggled to hit the fairway and consistently found himself in the rough. He went into Sunday having hit the fewest fairways of any leader through the first 54 holes.
That trend seemed like it could have been a problem for him on the 18th hole, where he entered with a two-stroke lead. That was where he shanked his tee shot deep into the woods and left himself in a fairly undesirable position with the championship on the line.