Rory McIlroy waited 17 attempts to win his first Green Jacket. He needed just one more to get his second.

McIlroy defended his Masters title at Augusta National on Sunday, shooting a gutsy final-round 71 to finish at 12-under par, one stroke clear of world number one Scottie Scheffler. The victory makes him only the fourth player to win consecutive Masters titles, joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods — the last man to go back-to-back, in 2002.

This was not the procession many expected after McIlroy built a six-shot lead at the halfway stage. That advantage evaporated on Saturday. In a rollercoaster final round, he fell two shots behind both Cameron Young and Justin Rose at different points. Then came Amen Corner, where McIlroy had suffered so often. A precisely judged tee shot at the par-3 12th and a 350-yard drive on the 13th set up two decisive birdies.

Rose, 45, who lost to McIlroy in a playoff last year, held the lead midway through the final round before bogeys at the 11th and 12th stalled his charge. Scheffler made his own history with the first bogey-free weekend at Augusta since 1942, but ran out of holes.

“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam, and then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters,” McIlroy said. “Just incredible.”

The win is his sixth major, drawing level with Faldo, Lee Trevino, and Phil Mickelson. His parents, Gerry and Rosie — absent during last year’s triumph — were waiting behind the 18th green. “I obviously wouldn’t be sitting up here if it wasn’t for them,” McIlroy said.

Twelve months ago, McIlroy said winning the Masters would free him. He returned at the first opportunity and proved it.

His parting question to the media last April — “What are we going to talk about next year?” — now answers itself. No one has ever won three consecutive Masters.

Sources