A ‘Rory repeat’: McIlroy wins second straight Masters title
Rory McIlroy is once again a Masters champion, after he beat Scottie Scheffler in a nail-biting final day performance at Augusta National Country Club on Sunday.
With Sunday’s win, McIlroy is a back-to-back Masters champion, becoming the first golfer since 2002 to win two Masters tournaments in a row.
McIlroy’s Masters performance
McIlroy shot 71 in what was an electric final round for the tournament. He had a six-shot lead in the third round before falling two shots behind Cameron Young and Justin Rose.
That was before his impressive stretch of a par and two birdies at holes eleven through thirteen, at Augusta’s famous Amen Corner.
He was ahead by two strokes over Scheffler going into the 18th hole, and that’s when McIlroy made it interesting.
He put his drive into the trees on 18, then his second shot into the sand trap, but a beautiful chip out.
And two putts later, McIlroy was the champion.
History made, again
While this year’s win didn’t involve McIlroy falling to his knees, as he did in 2025 when he joined elite company in completing his career Grand Slam, he still made history.
McIlroy is the first golfer since Tiger Woods to win back-to-back tournaments. He joins Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only golfers ever to win the Masters two years in a row.
“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam, and then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters,” McIlroy said Sunday. “Just incredible.”
The golf community is calling it a “Rory repeat.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
