Rory McIlroy completed golf’s career Grand Slam with a tearful Masters victory on Sunday, sinking a tense four-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to defeat Justin Rose.
World number two McIlroy snapped an 11-year major win drought despite squandering the solo lead three times in the final round, weeping as he finally captured the green jacket that so long eluded him.
“It feels incredible,” McIlroy said. “This is my 17th time here. I was wondering if it would ever be my time. I’m thrilled and so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
McIlroy joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan as the only players to win all four majors.
“The last 10 years coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve that, I’m sort of wondering what we’re all going to talk about going into next year’s Masters,” McIlroy said.
Needing a par on the 72nd hole to win, McIlroy plunked his approach at the par-4 18th into a greenside bunker, blasted out to five feet but then missed a tension-packed par putt, the ball going left of the hole as the crowd groaned.
“My battle today was with myself,” McIlroy said. “How I responded to setbacks, that’s what I’ll take from this week.”
That set up the playoff at the 18th, which Rose had birdied from 20 feet in regulation.
Rose dropped his approach 15 feet from the hole but McIlroy then landed his second shot four feet from the pin.
Tension built as Rose missed right of the hole and tapped in for par, leaving McIlroy a second chance to win and make history.
This time, McIlroy’s stroke was true and the emotions exploded after 10 prior failed attempts to complete a career Slam at Augusta National.
“I’ve dreamed about that moment for as long as I can remember,” McIlroy said.
As the crowd roared, McIlroy grabbed his head, sank to his knees and put his head down on the 18th green and began crying.
“There was a lot of pent up emotion that came out on that 18th green,” McIlroy said. “A moment like that makes all the years and all the close calls worth it.”
McIlroy recalled when he led by four strokes in 2011 seeking his first major at age 21 only to collapse on the back nine at shoot 80.
“I would say it was 14 years in the making, from going out with a four-shot lead in 2011 and feeling I could have done something there,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy hugged caddie Harry Diamond, put his head down and hands on his knees and wept again. He stepped off the green and hugged his wife and daughter, again crying as emotions poured out while the crowd chanted his name.
In addition to the champion’s green jacket, McIlroy received a record $4.2 million winner’s prize from a record $21 million purse.
The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland endured a nightmare start, back-nine collapse and the 72nd-hole bogey to secure his fifth major title in epic fashion with an iconic day-long fightback for the ages.
“It’s the best day of my golfing life,” McIlroy said. “I’m very proud of myself for never giving up and always fighting back.”
McIlroy, who had not won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, fired a one-over par 73 in the final round to finish 72 holes on 11-under 277 alongside Rose, who shot a closing 66 with birdies on six of the last eight holes.
The Masters hung on a knife’s edge with Rose and McIlroy level at 10-under when McIlroy, who plunked a third shot into Rae’s Creek and double-bogeyed the par-five 13th then bogeyed 14, birdied the par-five 15th to regain the lead.
Rose replied with a his birdie at 18 but with history on the line, McIlroy blasted his approach at the par-four 17th to two feet and tapped in for birdie to reclaim the lead – albeit briefly.
It was part of the back-and-forth that began when McIlroy opened with a double-bogey to surrender his two-shot lead, then briefly fell behind playing partner Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy then benefitted from two-shot swings on the next two holes for a three-shot lead and birdied the ninth to leap four ahead, holding on through the wild back nine to claim his third title of the year after The Players Championship and the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, giving him 29 career US PGA Tour
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