It was a do over for the ages as Rory McIlroy and his long, gut-wrenching wait to claim a career Grand Slam came to an end in the 89th Masters Tournament.
The 35-year-old Northern Irishman birded the first hole of a sudden death playoff, after missing his chance on the 72nd hole, and held off Justin Rose for his first green jacket.
“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 becoming only the sixth golfer to win all four majors, McIlroy joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only men to do so in the Masters era.
Both Rose and McIlroy blasted their tee shots on the first playoff hole, No. 18, and the 44-year-old Englishman stuck his approach shot to 5 feet. As if to say take that Rosie, McIlroy followed up with his own second strike to within four feet. Rose, seeking his second career major rolled a great looking putt that would sail past the hole.
The 2013 U.S. Open champion recorded his third career runner up finish at Augusta National after McIlroy sank his winning putt.
“I just said, listen, this is a historic moment in golf, isn’t it, someone who achieves the career Grand Slam,” Rose told CBS Sports’ Amanda Balionis after the defeat. “I just said it was pretty cool to be able to share that moment with him. Obviously, I wanted to be the bad guy today, but still, it’s a momentous occasion for the game of golf.”
This was the 18th playoff in Masters history and first since 2017 when Sergio Garcia held off Rose in similar fashion.
It’s been eleven years since Rory’s last major victory, and this one is his fifth, tying him for 15th on the all-time list with among others Seve Ballesteros, Byron Nelson and Brooks Koepka.
Sunday’s dramatic win was his 29th on the PGA TOUR, and that ties him for 18th all time with Lee Trevino and Gene Littler.
Both McIlroy and Rose finished regulation play 11 under par, while a pair of former Masters winners rounded out the top four on the leaderboard. Patrick Reed ended the week minus 8 while Scottie Sheffler was 8 under par, and 3 back of a piece of the playoff. Bryson DeChambeau who began the day two shots off the lead finished in a tie for 5th with Sungjae Im at minus 7.
Scheffler retains his world number one ranking with McIlroy clings to second place. The 750 FedEx Cup points he earned padded McIlroy’s lead in the PGA TOUR’s playoff chase.
McIlroy also joins Tiger Woods (2001) and Scheffler last year in winning both the Masters and the Players Championship in the same season.
Professional Golf’s second major of the season is just 31 days away when Quail Hallow Club in Charlotte will host the 107th PGA Championship. That just happens to be a course that McIlroy has won on four times during the PGA TOUR’s regular season, most recently last year in what is now known as the Truist Championship in the Queen City.