Rory, Rory Hallelujah!
McIlroy is fourth to go back-to-back at Augusta; oops, Rose did it again
Rory McIlroy needs less drama to win back-to-back Masters (Logan Whitton/ANGC)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s took 17 years or Rory McIlroy to finally win a green jacket. It took only 12 months to snag another one.
McIlroy threw away a six-shot lead Saturday and fell two behind on the front nine Sunday to two players (Cameron Young and Justin Rose) before coming back with birdies at 12 and 13 and winning at Augusta National for the second straight year, joining Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02) as the only players to repeat as Masters champions.
A year ago, his roller-coaster playoff victory over Rose made McIlroy only the sixth player with the career Grand Slam with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Nicklaus, Gary Player and Woods. His second win put added him to another exclusive fraternity.
“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 after holding on for a one-shot victory over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. “Just incredible.”
McIlroy was nursing a two-shot lead when his wedge barely cleared the false front of the par-5 15th hole. Then he air-mailed the par-3 16th and hit a parbolic putt from behind the green to six inches away save another par. He repeated that trick with a chip close from the right side of the 17th green.
The two-shot lead proved important as his drive on 18 went nearly to the 10th fairway and he settled for a tap-in closing bogey from the front bunker to nip Scheffler.
“I’d say walking off the 18th tee not knowing where my ball was, that was the moment of greatest stress,” McIlroy said.
“It felt pretty similar to last year. I made a double early on the first hole last year. I made a double on 4 this year. Then I played flawless golf after that. I made four birdies and no bogeys going to the last tee knowing that I had a two-shot lead. It’s nice to have that two-shot cushion instead of the one like I had last year.”
The result was pretty much how McIlroy drew it up in his mind even if the details varied.
“My parting message last year was I can’t wait to come back and put the jacket on myself,” McIlroy said at the trophy presentation. “I wasn’t quite correct.”
For the third time, it was left to the Augusta National chairman — Hord Hardin for Faldo, Hootie Johnson for Woods, Fred Ridley for McIlroy — to do the honors. “It still fits,” McIlroy said.
Nicklaus is the only one to give himself the jacket at the suggestion of Masters co-founder Bobby Jones.
McIlroy now has six majors, tied with Faldo, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson. And that sense of freedom he brought back to Augusta National as a champion carried him to the finish line.
“I just can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and I get two in a row,” he said in the Butler Cabin. “I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off. It was a tough weekend. I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday. But just so, so happy to hang in there and get the job done.”
McIlroy seized control for good with a critical shot over Rae’s Creek to 7 feet for birdie on the par-3 12th. Then he blasted a 350-yard drive on the par-5 13th — he had been in the trees the previous three rounds — that set up another birdie to move three shots ahead at that point.
Scheffler put himself in position to break the Masters record with the largest 36-hole comeback in history. He was 12 strokes behind going into the weekend but was just two shots behind as he approached the turn. After 11 straight pars from 4 to 14, he birdied 15 and 16 to move ahead of a pack at 10-under.
Scheffler ultimately settled for his third runner-up finish in a major to go along with four titles. His 65-68 weekend made him the first player since 1942 to go bogey-free on the weekend at Augusta.
“I put up a good fight in order to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said.
Justin Rose laments late missed chance on 16 on Sunday (Kieran Cleeves/ANGC)
Justin rose and fell again in Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The tournament was all but over for him at this point, a final walk up the hill at the 18th hole to the sound of loud, boisterous applause greeting him as he headed for the green and a completion of his 21st Masters appearance.
Like the others, Justin Rose was not going to win this time. Yet another close call and a bittersweet ending.
“It’s more sympathy than anything,” Rose noted of the reception he received. “It was nice. Felt like the crowd was amazing to me all week long. They pulled for me all week long. I felt their encouragement and support. At the end it kind of goes a little flat. … But it was still nonetheless very beautiful.
“But, yeah, another little stinger.”
No doubt.
Last year, Rose, 45, made 10 birdies in a final-round 66 to get into a playoff with Rory McIlory, where he fell in sudden-death to a birdie. He became one of nine players to finish runner-up at least three times in Masters history (2015, ’17 and ’25).
On Sunday, Rose surged into the lead with a five-birdie first nine, had a two-shot advantage through 10 holes and was three clear of eventual winner McIlroy.
Amen Corner turned into his demise.
The holes that are furthest from the clubhouse and often such a pivotal point in any Masters round proved difficult for Rose. He played the 11th, 12th and 13th holes in 2-over par while McIlroy played them in 2-under.
That difference proved pivotal when Rose ended up two shots back of McIlroy and in a four-way tie for third with Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley and Cam Young. Scottie Scheffler finished second.
“Just a chance that got away, obviously,” said Rose, who won the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. “I was by no means kind of free and clear and was nowhere kind of close to having the job done, but I was right in position. You know, Amen Corner, without really hitting a bad shot but just not a good shot — not committed enough on maybe 11 shot specifically — it was kind of like two saves.”
Rose missed the green at the par-4 11th to the right and then left his pitch 15 feet short, missing the par putt.
At the par-3 12th, Rose’s tee shot went just over the back left of the green, 35 feet away. But his heavy pitch shot from there came up well short and he again bogeyed.
And when he went for the green at the par-5 13th, hitting a beautiful approach over the flagstick, he had 30 feet for eagle. But his attempt run 8 feet past. He missed the birdie comebacker, a killer three-putt that left him looking up at McIlroy.
“I was really in control,” Rose said. “First 10 holes I felt like I was. And the mentality was to run through the finish line not just try and get it done. I was playing great, but just momentum shifted for me around the Amen Corner.”
The 13th hole was an opportunity to get back into the game, especially after a strong tee shot.
“Kind of hit the premium shot in there, and thought I was going to have a great eagle chance,” Rose said. “I talked myself into having too much of a good eagle look that. That green is a bit of a funny one. I feel like I was quite straight down the line and maybe got too — obviously clearly too aggressive with it. Just maybe off the back of two bogeys that was the one moment where four there really settles things down and gets me right back in it.
“It was kind of like a continuation of a lot momentum I felt. So, yeah, that three-putt … that was untimely for sure.”
Rose got a birdie putt to drop at the 15th to get back to 11-under par and with some hope, but a bogey at the 17th when he missed a short par putt crushed his chances.
“I feel like if there was anyone that is deserving of a green jacket this probably would be Rosey,” said fellow Englishman and Ryder Cup teammate Hatton, whose 66 pushed him into a tie for third. “As it stands right now, it looks like he’s going to come up just a hair short again. But, again, incredible player and I imagine one day he’ll slip on a green jacket.”
For that to happen, Rose will have to equal Jack Nicklaus at age 46 as the oldest Masters champion.
He was attempting to become just the fifth player to win a major after losing it the year prior in a playoff. John McDermott (1911 U.S. Open), Bobby Jones (1926 and 1929 U.S. Opens), Gay Brewer (1967 Masters) and Jack Nicklaus (1972 U.S. Open) were the others.
Rose has played nicely over the past few years, contending at the 2024 British Open won by Xander Schauffele and winning three times in the past three years, including this year’s Farmers Insurance Open. He’s also been a strong performer for Europe in the Ryder Cup.
But these major opportunities are so rare.
As tough as last year was in losing to McIlroy in a playoff, this one was equally if not more difficult.
“I feel like with a sudden-death loss you kind of know you got to the house,” Rose said. “You’ve done everything it took to win. Then it comes down to flick of a coin at times.
“Whereas today I felt like, there was an opportunity to do better, so obviously that is frustrating for sure.”