The Northern Irishman will be the first player to play at Augusta National repeatedly since Tiger Woods in 2001-2002.
Published April 13, 2026
Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods, and now Rory McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman emerged from a tight pack of favorites to win the 90th Masters Tournament on Sunday, joining a trio of golf icons as the only players in history to win Augusta National two years in a row.
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McIlroy said earlier this week that a win at the Masters would make the second one easier, and he dug deeper into that belief Sunday, rallying from a three-shot deficit on the front nine to post a round of 1-under 71 and improve his winning score to 12-under 276. This was one spot above Scottie Scheffler.
“I waited 17 years to get one green jacket and to get two in a row is unbelievable,” McIlroy told CBS from Butler Cabin. “I think the perseverance that I put into this golf tournament over the years is really starting to pay off.”
McIlroy’s sixth career major is tied with Faldo for the most by a modern European player, and both players are tied for 12th all-time among all players.
Cameron Young, Russell Henry, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose each improved by one stroke at 10 under.
mcilroy rally
McIlroy started the final round tied for the 54-hole lead at 11 under, while Young birdied his second hole to reach 12 under and take the outright lead. McIlroy’s quest for a repeat seemed to be over when he went 3 over on the two par 3s on the front nine, dropping his tournament total to 9 under.
Suddenly, McIlroy’s name was on the Young & Rose leaderboard, and he made four birdies in five holes to reach 12 under par. Scheffler continued to do well over the next few holes, with Henry reaching 10 under after eight holes.
It was McIlroy’s first time kicking back into gear since finishing with six birdies over his final seven holes on Friday. With a birdie on the seventh hole, McIlroy returned to double digits under par, and with another shot on the par-5 eighth hole, he was within one stroke of the lead.
As Scheffler’s rally stalled for 11 straight pars and Rose and Young struggled to hole putts on the back nine, McIlroy continued to ratchet up the pressure. He got birdies on the 12th and 13th holes and hit the “Amen Corner” to reach 2 under par and built a 2-stroke lead.
Scheffler had birdies on the 15th and 16th to improve to 11 under par. Another birdie attempt on the 17th stayed on the rim of the cup, and Scheffler parred out for a round of 4-under 68, leaving McIlroy on the course with three holes remaining.
The two-shot cushion proved useful when McIlroy hit his drive into the trees on the 18th hole. He punched the ball forward into a greenside bunker and was able to place the ball on the putting surface on his third shot.
From there, McIlroy easily converted a two-putt bogey to become only the fourth player in history to successfully defend the Masters.
“It’s nice to have a two-shot cushion instead of one (shot) like last year,” McIlroy said. “After I hit No. 6 bogey, I looked at the (leader) board and at that point I was back at 9 under. And I said, ‘If I can get to 14 under, I think I have a pretty good chance of winning this tournament.’
“I wasn’t quite there yet. I got to No. 13, but by the time I got to the 18th tee, No. 13 was good enough.”
McIlroy set a Masters record by six strokes after 36 holes, then played the final 36 holes at even par. This brought a number of players back into the team, with at least four different players leading at one point in the final round.
Even after falling back to 9-under, McIlroy admitted he kept a close eye on the leaderboard to see where he was in the tournament.
“It was a tough weekend,” he said. “I did most of the work on Thursday and Friday, and I was really happy that I was able to put in the effort and finish it.”
