Rory McIlroy on Sunday overcame early stumbles and a late scare to win the US Masters, capturing his sixth major title to become only the fourth back-to-back champion at Augusta National.
The world No. 2 from Northern Ireland made a double bogey at the fourth and a bogey at the sixth, but responded with four birdies in the next seven holes and hung on after woeful late tee shots to win a second green jacket and a record top prize of US$4.5 million.
McIlroy joined Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back winners in Masters history, firing a final round one-under-par 71 to finish on 12-under-par 276 and defeat top-ranked Scottie Scheffler by one stroke.
Photo: AP
A year after winning his first Masters to complete a career Grand Slam and snap a 10-year major win drought, McIlroy pulled off a wire-to-wire triumph.
“I just can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and you know I get two in a row. It’s just sort of the way,” McIlroy said. “I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off.”
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley placed the green jacket on McIlroy, a role usually reserved for the prior year’s Masters winner.
McIlroy seized a 36-hole Masters record six-stroke lead only to play the weekend at level par.
“It was a tough weekend. I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday,” McIlroy said. “But just so, so happy to hang in there and get the job done.”
McIlroy, third-from last in driving accuracy for the week, saved par at 15 from the trees, but sent his tee shot at the 18th over trees on the right to a spot near the adjacent 10th fairway.
McIlroy curled a dramatic approach around the pines and into a greenside bunker, then blasted onto the green to 12 feet and two-putted for bogey to secure the triumph.
“It’s nice to have that two-shot cushion instead of the one like I had last year,” said McIlroy, who needed a playoff to win last year.
McIlroy, 36, yelled with joy and lifted his arms into the air after the triumph. He hugged daughter Poppy and wife Erica after walking off the 18th green where he embraced his parents.
Scheffler, a four-time major winner seeking his third Masters victory in five seasons, was on 277 after shooting a 68 to complete a bogey-free weekend.
“Over the weekend I put up a good fight, did a lot of good stuff in order to give myself a chance and ultimately came up a couple shots short,” Scheffler said.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton and 45-year-old Justin Rose and the US’ Russell Henley and Cameron Young shared third on 278.
Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, settled for another near miss after three runner-up Masters finishes.
“I felt like there was an opportunity to do better, so obviously that’s frustrating for sure,” Rose said.
Rose birdied four of the last five holes on the front nine and led on 12-under, but bogeys at 11 and 12 moved McIlroy into the lead to stay.
McIlroy sank a seven-foot birdie putt at the par-three 12th after an impressive tee shot, then added an 11-foot birdie putt at the par-five 13th to seize a three-stroke lead.
“I think the tee shot on 12 and then the tee shot on 13, just to give me the option to go for the green in two,” were the day’s key shots, he said.
“I made a really good, committed swing off the 13th tee, and that enabled me to go for the green in two and to make a birdie there, following the birdie on 12. That was massive,” he said.
Four pars and the closing bogey followed to produce McIlroy’s sixth major victory — and the champion said there could be more to come.
“I’m not putting a number on it, but I certainly don’t want to stop here,” he said.
Taiwan’s top male badminton player, Chou Tien-chen, on Saturday bowed out in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Thailand Open after losing in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The world No. 6 Chou, seeded fourth at the Super 500 tournament, lost to the world No. 2 Thai 21-7, 21-19 in 53 minutes. The victory improved Vitidsarn’s head-to-head record against Chou to 3-5. Chou, 36, trailed throughout the opening game after the score was tied 2-2. His relatively passive approach allowed the 25-year-old Thai to capitalize on Chou’s defensive clears with powerful smashes while committing few unforced errors. The Taiwanese
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday left Tottenham Hotspur realistically only needing one more point to win the battle for English Premier League survival, while Bruno Fernandes made history in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs can avoid dropping out of the English top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years with victory at Chelsea today, but a draw would also likely suffice thanks to their much superior goal-difference over West Ham. “Overall bad performance. Too many things [went wrong], I think we gifted them the goals,” West Ham head caoch Nuno Espirito Santo
Jannik Sinner has his eyes on a first Roland Garros title after winning the Italian Open on Sunday to claim a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 tournament victory. World No. 1 Sinner beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to complete the “Golden Masters” by winning all of the ATP’s top-ranked events, in the process becoming the first Italian men’s champion in Rome since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago. Only Novak Djokovic had previously won all nine Masters 1000 events before Sunday, but there was little doubt about Sinner triumphing over the past 10 days. Sinner heads to Roland Garros, which starts at the weekend,
RSS