April 12 (UPI) — Rory McIlroy watched his historic lead evaporate, but responded with the mettle of a champion to defend his Masters title Sunday in August, Ga.
McIlroy, who needed 17 attempts to win his first Masters Tournament last spring, added a second green jacket to his closet less than a year later.
With Sunday’s victory, he became just the fourth player to win consecutive Masters crowns, joining Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02).
“I can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket and then I get two in a row,” McIlroy said on the CBS broadcast. “I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off. It was a tough weekend. I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday.
“I’m just so happy to hang in there and get the job done.”
McIlroy, who carded a 12-under for the tournament, took home $4.5 million for his win. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who finished second at 11-under, cashed in for $2.4 million. Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Justin Rose and Cameron Young tied for third, two strokes behind McIlroy.
“Some good play by me and I’m fortunate the guys didn’t really come at me this year, either,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy, the No. 2 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, held a six-stroke lead though the first two rounds of the tournament, the largest advantage through 36 holes in Masters history. He carded a 1-over-73 on Saturday and started Sunday in a tie with Cameron Young atop the leaderboard at 11-under.
He holed four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey for a 1-under-71 over his final 18 holes, while fending off Scheffler and Young, among other elite foes.
Scheffler made four birdies for a 4-under-68 over his final 18 holes. He didn’t bogey once over the final two rounds.
“Overall, over the weekend, I put up a good fight,” Scheffler said. “I did a lot of good stuff in order to give myself a chance and just ultimately came a couple shots short.”
Sam Burns sank a birdie on hole No. 1 to jump into three way tie for the lead with Young and McIlroy at 11-under.
Young, who started the tournament 4-over through his first seven holes, was eight strokes back of the lead to start the third round. He took the solo lead away from McIlroy with a birdie on his second hole of the final round.
McIlroy struggled with his putter early, leading to respective disastrous scores of double bogey and bogey on Nos. 4 and 6 and falling three shots behind Young. But Young faltered, carding bogeys on Nos. 6, 7 and 9 to slip down the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, Rose birdied Nos. 5,7, 8 and 9 to storm into the lead. But, he bogeyed on Nos. 11 and 12 to give McIlroy a solo lead. McIlroy drained birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 for a three-shot advantage.
He glanced at the scoreboard several times as Scheffler hunted from behind, but managed to hang on to his advantage.
McIlroy hit turbulence on the final hole, when his drive landed inside a cluster of trees. He followed with a shot into the final green-side bunker as Scheffler watched from the clubhouse after the end of his round.
McIlroy hit an approach shot 12 feet from the pin. He followed with a putt just 7 inches from the hole. McIlroy finished the tournament with a bogey putt, which was good enough to clinch a one-stroke victory.
The PGA Tour season will continue with the RBC Heritage, which will be Thursday through Sunday in Hilton Head, S.C. The season’s second major, the PGA Championship, will be May 14 to 17 in Newton Square, Pa.
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