Rory McIlroy is finally a Masters champion and becomes one of only six players to complete golf’s career Grand Slam after the most dramatic of final rounds.
For the last ten years, McIlroy has arrived at Augusta one Green Jacket short of completing the major set – but his decade-long wait for a major of any kind is finally over after edging out Justin Rose in a sudden death playoff.
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As ever, he did things the hard way, blowing the overnight lead, a four-shot lead standing on the 11th tee and then a missed putt on the 72nd hole to send the tournament to it’s first play-off since 2017.
On that occasion Sergio Garcia edged out Rose, and when the Englishman missed his putt on Sunday evening the way was clear for McIlroy to not pass up a second chance.
He buried his two foot putt, to collapse to the floor in tears and then let out a huge sigh of relief as all the years of pressure were released in an instant.
Rose was left an agonising Masters runner-up for the third time in career.
Victory, on his 17th appearance at Augusta, means McIlroy takes home the prestigious Green Jacket and a host of champions privileges, but most significantly he joins the elitist of elite golfing company.
Only Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Gene Sarazan, Jack Nicklaus and McIlroy’s idol Tiger Woods in achieving the career Grand Slam.
He is only the second man to complete the set in the iconic surroundings of Augusta National – Gene Sarazon achieving the feat in 1935.
However, it was a day of stunning drama that started with McIlroy losing the lead on the second hole, he then bounced back to lead by four standing on the 11th tee – only to blow that advantage in scenes eerily similar to his meltdown as a 21-year–old in 2011.
But his iron play has been spectacular all week and his approaches on 15 and 17 gave him two final birdies and the chance to secure his place in the pantheon of golf’s greats.
The shot of his life on 15 swept and swung from 208 yards and under the under the trees, to land within six feet.
Masters Leaderboard
After final round
-11 Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy
McIlroy wins on 1st play-off hole
-9 Patrick Reed
-8 Scottie Scheffler
-7 Sung-jae Im, Bryson DeChambeau
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The eagle putt didn’t drop, but a tap-in birdie took him back into the lead at -11.
Ahead of him Rose was putting the finishing touches to a glittering round of 66, that featured ten birdies including a 20-footer on the 18th green set the clubhouse target.
With DeChambeau falling away dramatically after finding the water for a double bogey six on 11 it was the European Ryder Cup stalwarts left to duke it out.
McIlroy sunk a second birdie putt in three holes after sticking another brilliant iron to two feet on the penultimate green.
There was time for more drama as he found the bunker on 17, splashed out to four feet and missed his first attempt to clinch the title. But he made no mistake in the play-off.
McIlroy now sits alongside 15-time major champion Woods as the only player in the last 59 years to win the career Grand Slam.
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All Time Men’s Major Winners
18 – Jack Nicklaus
15 – Tiger Woods
11 – Walter Hagen
9 – Ben Hogan, Gary Player
8 – Tom Watson
7 – Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer
6 – Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson
5 – James Braid, John Henry Taylor, Byron Nelson, Peter Thomson, Seve Ballesteros, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy
*bold completed career Grand Slam
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It has always seemed barely believable that he has not added to his major tally in the 38 editions he has played since winning the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 2014.
That gave him four in a three year stretch, but near misses and final day charges have followed as he fallen short and started slowly in the decade that has passed.
However his 72 blows on Sunday, were a microcosm of his career to date with drama at every turn, closely followed by moments of weakness and brilliance in equal supply.
It’s what makes McIlroy arguably the most popular player in the game – and now one of it’s all-time greats.
McIlroy’s Majors
Rory McIlroy’s Grand Slam
2025 – Masters (Augusta)
2014 – PGA Championship (Valhalla)
2014 – Open Championship (St Andrews)
2012 – PGA Championship (Kiawah Island)
2011 – U.S. Open (Congressional)
With his fifth major triumph on Sunday evening he moves level with six other players – including two-time Masters champion and European Ryder Cup hero Seve Ballesteros – in the all-time list.
Last year three bogies in his final four holes at Pinehurst handed DeChambeau his second U.S. Open and prompted McIlroy to claim over this season you have to want to get your heartbroken.
The man from Holywood has specialised in headlines and looked to have broken many a heart on Sunday.
But as the sun set in Georgia, and Scottie Scheffler slipped the Green Jacket around his shoulders in the Butler Cabin, greatness was his.
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