1 week Ago By Jamie Braidwood
Rory McIlroy won the Masters in unbelievable fashion on Sunday night to complete the career grand slam and finally secure the green jacket. McIlroy triumphed in a dramatic hole play-off against Justin Rose , after missing a five-foot putt to win the Masters on the 18th in what was the latest twist in a rollercoaster final round at Augusta. The victory saw McIlroy become just the sixth man to complete the career grand slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in an exclusive club.
McIlroy started the day with a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau but that quickly evaporated on the first hole, setting the tone for most one of the most nerve-shredding final Sundays in recent memory. McIlroy led the Masters by two shots stepping up to the first tee but his advantage disappeared in an instant. He found the right-side fairway bunker with his first two drives of the day, catching the front lip on both occasions when an extra yard would have put him in a great position.
McIlroy could not recover and three-putted. Leaderboard: McIlroy (-10), DeChambeau (-10), Rose (-7), Aberg (-7) McIlroy actually said that his double-bogey on the first helped settle his nerves. But, by the second, DeChambeau had birdied the opening par-5 to take the lead and suddenly McIlroy was the chaser.
On the short par-4 third, McIlroy produced a lovely bump and run up the hill with a lob wedge, hitting the bank and rolling the ball to six feet. It set up a birdie putt, which McIlroy rolled in to get back on track. Leaderboard: McIlroy (-11), DeChambeau (-10), Aberg (-7), Rose (-6) McIlroy earned another shot back on the par-3 fourth, returning to where he started on -12.
But to stay there, McIlroy required a series of remarkable escapes from the trees after landing in the pine straw. The first came at the fifth, as McIlroy spotted a gap and whacked a huge draw to end up close to the green - where McIlroy got up and down for par. The second came at the seventh, and was one of the shots of the round.
This time, McIlroy ended up on the left of the fairway and his approach again appeared to be blocked. But McIlroy saw a gap, wrapped his club around the ball and send it sky-rocketing through the narrowest of gaps in the pines. Remarkably, it landed on the front of the green and McIlroy was left cackling in joy as he walked down the fairway.
He missed the putt for birdie but it meant that he maintained his momentum. Leaderboard: McIlroy (-12), DeChambeau (-9), Aberg (-7), Rose (-7) McIlroy produced two stunning approaches around the turn, but stylistically they were very different. On the ninth, a pristine iron used the back slope to bring it sliding back the hole, where he rolled in for birdie.
But, on the 10th, something appeared to have gone horribly wrong when McIlroy took aim at the green with his eight iron but dropped his club at the top of his backswing. The result, though, was spectacular. Despite a grimace from McIlroy it landed within 10 feet and he rolled it in for back-to-back birdies.
At this point, McIlroy had opened up a five-shot lead over DeChambeau. Up ahead, Rose was an inch away from a spectacular eagle on the 13th, but tapped in to move to -10 and the Englishman emerged as his closest challenger. Leaderboard: McIlroy (-14), Rose (-10), DeChambeau (-9), Aberg (-9) McIlroy would find the water later in the round, but he narrowly avoided the hazard on 11th.
Hitting behind the trees on the right of the fairway, McIlroy opted for the low cut but took a huge bounce off a hump in the fairway and looked to be rolling towards the water, only for it to be held up by the longer cut. Still, the ball was teetering on the brink and McIlroy later joked that he considered running down to the ball to take his next shot out of turn. McIlroy dropped a shot, but it could have worse.
DeChambeau sent his approach splashing into the pond. His chances of the green jacket went with it. Leaderboard : McIlroy (-13), Rose (-9), Reed (-8), Aberg (-8) McIlroy took the decision to lay-up on the par-5 13th and put himself in perfect position with his first two shots: what happened next was inexplicable.
With 86 yards to go and the whole of the left-side of the green to go for, McIlroy took on the pin and teased Rae’s Creek. His chip flew off to the right, took a bounce off the bank, and found the water. McIlroy took a drop, found the green, but then missed his bogey putt.
Incredibly, he ended up with a double-bogey, just as Rose birdied the 15th. Suddenly, there was a tie for the lead. Leaderboard : McIlroy (-11), Rose (-11), Aberg (-9), Scheffler (-8) McIlroy dropped another shot on the 14th, with his pitch lacking its usual control and the par putt stopping on the lip of the hole, and was threatening to enter proper ‘head loss’ territory when he drove left on the par-5 15th.
His sight of the green looked to have been blocked off by the overhanging branches. He would surely have to lay-up. Instead, McIlroy went for it with his seven iron.
The ball-tracker illustrated just how ridiculous the shot McIlroy attempted was, as he set it a good 40 yards to the right of the green and looked to bring it back. But McIlroy walking after the ball immediately after striking it was a clue that he’d just produced something magical: it carried Rae’s Creek and found the perfect line to take it to the heart of the green. Jim Nantz, on CBS, declared: “The shot of a lifetime”.
Of McIlroy’s 75 shots on Sunday, it is this one that may live on through the ages. An eagle would have been deserved by a birdie stopped the rot and put McIlroy in the lead again. Leaderboard : McIlroy (-11), Rose (-10), Aberg (-10), Scheffler (-8) It had been some time since McIlroy stood in the middle of the fairway and took aim at the green without additional obstacles.
On the 17th, McIlroy was again walking after his ball after another high arcing eight iron found the front of the green and left two feet for birdie. He put it away to retake the lead and leave himself requiring a par on the 18th to win the Masters. Leaderboard : McIlroy (-12), Rose (-11), Reed (-9) Aberg (-9) Given the pressure, McIlroy’s drive on 18 was immaculate and found the perfect line on the left side of the fairway, just ahead of the bunkers.
But, needing only a par to win the Masters from 125 yards, McIlroy let the club slip and his approach slipped away to the right, finding the bunker. McIlroy buckled over his knees but he gave himself every chance of saving par with a classy bunker shot. However, from five feet and the Masters on the line, he missed his shot at history and was dragged into an additional hole.
Leaderboard : McIlroy (-11), Rose (-11), Reed (-9) Scheffler (-8) Forced to confront his demons one last time, McIlroy returned to the 18th tee and set up the exact same shot he had faced moments before with a textbook drive that hugged the left side. Again from 125 yards, McIlroy carried the flag with a high gap wedge, caught the slope of the green, and brought it back to four feet. Rose had produced an excellent approach of his own, but could not make birdie, leaving McIlroy with another putt to win the Masters.
This time, there was no mistake. History was made and the tears followed..
