Rory McIlroy dramatically ended his major drought in barely believable fashion before breaking down in tears after beating Justin Rose in a play-off to finally win the Masters and create history by completing the career grand slam.
McIlroy’s path to victory saw him complete an emotional final round at the first extra hole with birdie enough to hold off his Ryder Cup teammate after both players finished on 11 under par after the regulation 72 holes.
McIlroy has endured recent nightmares at St Andrews in 2022 at The Open, before last year’s near miss at the Pinehurst in the US Open, against Bryson DeChambeau, who he was paired with in the final round here, only for the American to fade quickly on the back nine.
But on his 11th attempt to join golf’s most exclusive club and 3,900 days after his last major victory in the 2014 US PGA, McIlroy almost threw away a five-shot lead before claiming a coveted green jacket at a pulsating Augusta National.
After inexplicably dumping his third shot to the 13th into Rae’s Creek to run up a second double bogey of the day, McIlroy also bogeyed the 14th before birdies on the 15th and 17th edged him a shot ahead of Rose.
Rose then set the clubhouse target on 11 under thanks to his 10th birdie of the day on the 18th in a remarkable closing 66, before McIlroy missed from five feet for par on the same hole to claim the title.
The players returned to the 18th for extra holes and after Rose missed his birdie attempt, McIlroy holed from three feet before sinking to his knees and sobbing in relief.
The win makes McIlroy the first player in a quarter of a century to complete the career grand slam and match the feats of Gene Sarazen (completed in 1935), Ben Hogan (1953), Gary Player (1965), Jack Nicklaus (1966) and Tiger Woods (2000).
The prospects of McIlroy being presented with the green jacket by Scottie Scheffler were slim when he double bogeyed the 15th and 17th on Thursday to card an opening 72 to trail Rose by seven shots.
Only Nick Faldo in 1990 and Woods in 2005 had previously come from seven behind after 18 holes to win, but McIlroy launched his comeback with a back nine of 31 in a Friday 66 and exploded out of the blocks with a record six consecutive threes to start another 66 on Saturday.
