Rory McIlroy wins dramatic Masters play-off to complete the career grand slam
McIlroy reduced to floods of tears after completing jaw-dropping victory at 11th time of asking
Rory McIlroy turned another major collapse into his grandest moment of all, hitting a wedge into three feet for birdie in a sudden-death play-off on Sunday to finally win the Masters and take his place in golf history as the sixth player to claim the career grand slam.
What should have been a coronation for McIlroy along the back nine at Augusta National turned into a heart-racing, lead-changing jaw-dropping finish at golf’s greatest theatre that ended with McIlroy on his knees sobbing with joy and disbelief.
“I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said in Butler Cabin before Scottie Scheffler helped him into the green jacket.
It ended with more heartache for Justin Rose, who lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff in 2017 and forced this one with a clutch 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a six-under-par 66. He wound up joining Ben Hogan as the only players to lose twice in play-offs at Augusta National.
McIlroy lost a two-shot lead in two holes at the start. He lost a four-shot lead on the back nine in a matter of three holes with shocking misses, one of them a wedge into the tributary of Rae’s Creek on the par-5 13th.
And right when it looked as though he would blow another major, McIlroy delivered two majestic shots when nothing less would do, two birdies that sent him to the 18th hole with a one-shot lead. That still wasn’t enough. He missed a five-foot par putt for a one-over 73 and the first Masters play-off in eight years.