The 89th edition of the Masters concluded on Sunday 14th August, with Rory McIlroy claiming a stunning win for the green jacket for the first time in his career, after defeating fellow Brit Justin Rose in a play-off hole. The 35 year old fought off stiff competition over the course of the weekend at the Augusta National Golf Club, with Rose, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau posing the greatest threats to the Northern Irishman.
This victory sees McIlroy become the latest golfer to join the elite group of those who have accomplished a Career Grand Slam, becoming the first ever European to do so. He is also the first since Tiger Woods in 2000 to attain such an achievement , with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen the only other golfers to achieve such a feat. This incredible achievement is whereby a golfer wins the PGA Championship, the Masters, the US Open and the British Open. McIlroy has been attempting to complete his Grand Slam since 2014, a year in which he won both the British Open and the PGA Championship, saying that, “Every year I’ve come here there has been a lot riding on this week for obvious reasons. Some years I handled it well, some years I didn’t, but thankfully, finally, I was able to get over the line.
Rose led the way with -8 through the first two rounds, however day three saw him fall down the leaderboard after shooting 75, before his 10 birdies in round four put him right back into contention, as he looked to become the competition’s oldest ever first time winner. World number one Scottie Scheffler looked off the pace the entire four days, with his best performance coming on day 1, whereby he shot four under par, however despite this, his consistency kept him close to the top of the scoreboard.
After a disastrous start to his round on Sunday, with a double bogey on the opening hole, McIlroy cleaned his performance up, before the pressure took its toll on the Brit, with three bogeys and another double bogey on the back nine, but his consistency throughout the weekend kept him ahead of the majority of his competition. Despite missing a par putt on the 18th hole for the win, McIlroy kept his composure to play the perfect hole, and claim victory with a birdie in the first Masters’ playoff hole since Sergio Garcia defeated Justin Rose back in 2017.
Rory is only the fifth Brit to win the Master’s in its 89 year history and the first Northern Irishman to do so. 64 of the 89 total winners in the history of the competition have been American (72%), with the next most successful nation being Spain with five previous winners. Dame Laura Davies has stated that in the aftermath of his elusive victory at Augusta, “He might win five or six more majors now, as he will never feel pressure like that again.”
This masters victory not only cements his legacy as one of the greats in the history of the sport, but also removes the burden of this achievement off his shoulders, with plenty of Majors in his grasp over the next couple of years