Rory McIlroy’s long-awaited first Masters victory did not come easily.
After entering Sunday’s final round at Augusta National with a two-shot lead, McIlroy nearly wilted down the stretch — again.
He bogeyed on the 11th hole, double bogeyed on 13 and bogeyed again on 14. He was suddenly tied with Justin Rose through 15.
Par on the 18 hole would have wrapped up the win for McIlroy, but he bogeyed once again, necessitating a playoff.
It was a scene reminiscent of 2011, when McIlroy blew a four-hole advantage by shooting an 80 in the fourth round in one of the biggest collapses in Masters history.
“This is my 17th time here, and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy, 35, said after Sunday’s win.
Finally, this year proved to be McIlroy’s time.
McIlroy shot a birdie on that same 18th hole in the playoff to beat Rose, who shot par.
The victory marked McIlroy’s fifth major championship, his first since 2014, and put him in illustrious company as he completed a career Grand Slam.
Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only other golfers to win each of the four major tournaments in the Masters era.
“It’s a dream come true,” said McIlroy, wearing his new green jacket. “I’ve dreamt of that moment for as long as I remember.”
It was a triumph nearly two decades in the making for McIlroy, a former phenom from Northern Ireland who went pro in 2007 at age 18.
McIlroy was only 21 when he won his first major — the U.S. Open — in 2011. McIlroy finished with a 268 at that U.S. Open, the lowest aggregate score in the tournament’s history.
And he was just getting started.
McIlroy became the world No. 1 in March of 2012. He was 22 at the time, making him the second-youngest golfer to earn the top ranking — behind only Tiger Woods, who was 21 when he first achieved the feat in 1997.
McIlroy won the PGA Championship in 2012, the Open Championship in 2014 and another PGA Championship a few months later in 2014.
But a Masters victory continued to elude him.
His infamous choke at the 2011 Masters resulted in him finishing tied for 15th that year. He would finish tied for fifth or better four times between that tournament and Sunday’s, including in 2022, when he came in second.
After Sunday’s win, McIlroy acknowledged the “14 years of pent-up emotion” he’s felt since that 2011 disaster. That pressure appeared to hang over him throughout Sunday’s roller-coaster performance.
He double bogeyed the first hole, which allowed Bryson DeChambeau to pull into the lead through two.
McIlroy became the first Masters champion to finish with four double bogeys, which included two in the first round and two on Sunday.
“I didn’t make it easy today,” McIlroy said. “I certainly didn’t make it easy. I was nervous. It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on the golf course.”
He also picked up six birdies on Sunday — his most of any round — including on 15 and 17.
In the end, it was just enough for McIlroy to snap his 11-year major drought and slay his Masters dragon.
“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,” McIlroy said with a laugh. “I’m just absolutely honored and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
