Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates after winning Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (Photo by Chris Turvey/Augusta National/Getty Images)

Augusta National/Getty Images

After stalling during Saturday’s round, Rory McIlroy found himself bunched among a leaderboard of golf’s elite heading into the back nine at Augusta on Sunday afternoon.

“I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and now I get two in a row,” McIlroy said. “I think my persistence at this golf tournament is finally beginning to pay off.”

The day would inevitably be McIlroy’s.

“In a similar position to where he was last year, he crumbles to the ground. He is already getting emotional about it,” CBS commentator Jim Nantz said. “Rory is a rare repeat winner at Augusta.”

Scottie Scheffler appeared to emerge from the ashes after a lackluster Friday, shooting two-over par and sitting 12 strokes behind McIlroy’s lead at the time. Roles reversed on Saturday, as McIlroy was one of only a handful of players to shoot over par, allowing the field to close in.

Cameron Smith led the charge Saturday with a 7-under-par 65 and, by day’s end, was tied with McIlroy atop the leaderboard. Cameron Young struck first Sunday with a birdie on the par-5 second hole, and McIlroy answered with one of his own on the following hole.

Disaster struck McIlroy on the fourth. A pulled tee shot on the 240-yard par three landed left of the greenside bunker. His chip nearly dropped, sliding three feet past. What followed was either a mental lapse or the cruel hand of an Augusta god. McIlroy pushed his first putt through the break, pulled his second, and holed his third—a three-putt from inside four feet. The double bogey dropped him two strokes behind Young at 12-under.

Justin Rose surged up the leaderboard by the turn. Back-to-back-to-back birdies on holes 7, 8, and 9 gave him a two-shot lead over Young and Russell Henley. As juggernauts McIlroy and Young sputtered, Rose displayed elite touch—playing from the pine straw to within a few feet on seven, executing a brilliant pitch on the par-5 eighth, and draining a 12-foot birdie on nine.

Rose. McIlroy. Young. Henley. Scheffler. Hatton.

“Overall, on the weekend I put up a pretty good fight,” Scheffler said. “I hit some really good shots.”

The leaderboard shifted like a stock ticker. Rose led, McIlroy answered, Rose faded, Young climbed. Henley rose, then fell. Hatton posted 10-under. Scheffler spun his wheels with 11 straight pars before finally breaking through with birdies on 15 and 16.

The birdie at 15 seemed unlikely after Scheffler missed wide right and clipped the lowest limbs of an overhanging pine with his punch shot. His approach from 180 yards was superb—threaded under a branch before rising just enough to land softly on the firm green.

“We had four different players lead at one time,” Nantz said. “And Rory at one point had fallen three shots behind.”

Rose slipped with consecutive bogeys. Scheffler stalled. Young hovered. McIlroy, however, seized control. He stuck his tee shot on the par-3 12th and converted the birdie to take a two-shot lead. A towering drive on 13 set up another birdie, stretching the lead to three.

“I think the tee shot on 12 and the tee shot on 13 gave me the opportunity to go for the green in two,” McIlroy said.

Rory McIlroy. Scottie Scheffler. Justin Rose.

After stuffing it close on 17, Scheffler’s birdie putt slid just past as patrons held their breath. Inches from three straight birdies, his hopes of another green jacket slipped away.

Rose, just two back, caught a massive break when his errant drive on 17 clipped a pine and kicked back into the fairway. Meanwhile, McIlroy gave the field a flicker of hope with a routine par on the reachable par-5 15th.

Sliced right—McIlroy’s tee shot on the final hole drifted well off line but left him a clean look. All that remained was a towering hook reminiscent of his defining shot from 2025. Instead, the ball settled into the front-left greenside bunker.

McIlroy calmly got up and down, two-putting from 20 feet to finish at 12-under par—one stroke ahead of Scheffler.

The crowd erupted—across the hallowed grounds of Augusta and back home at Holywood Golf Club.

Rory McIlroy became the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters titles, joining Nick Faldo with six career major championships.