Rory McIlroy joins elite club with back-to-back Masters crowns – and could win many more

Rory McIlroy became the fifth back-to-back winner of the Masters , winning his sixth major after holding off the challenge of world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose on a scintillating Sunday at Augusta . The Ulsterman joined the exclusive club of grand slam winners in emotional fashion last year after overcoming Rose in a playoff, but had to fight his way back to the top of the leaderboard on Sunday after trailing Rose, overnight co-leader Cameron Young and even Russell Henley at different points during a rollercoaster final round. Rory McIlroy pulled on the green jacket again (Getty Images) After two days this tournament had seemed as good as over, with McIlroy six shots clear – the greatest margin in Masters history after 36 holes – and playing with a peace and tranquility that comes with being the defending champion.

But a one-over 73 on Saturday gave hope to those in pursuit and rocked McIlroy’s confidence, forcing him to seek answers at the practice range deep into Saturday evening. (AP) If there was one thing that stood out about the chasing pack on Sunday morning, it was the quality of those golfers willing and able to chase. Sam Burns and Cam Young are the young bucks of the PGA Tour, both seeking a first major after success on tour and Ryder Cup appearances.

Justin Rose, Jason Day and Shane Lowry are all major winners with the experience and temperament to mount a Sunday pursuit while Scottie Scheffler is Scottie Scheffler. If you need to know more than that then welcome to your first Masters – have you tried the pimento cheese? With the most bunched leaderboard for a Sunday morning since 2017, it was still only the final four pairings really in contention, and even then needing to play the best golf of their life to have a chance.

The first hour or two posed a question of who could make gains or even just stay in the hunt. Scottie Scheffler put the pressure on but could not reel Rory McIlroy in (AP) Burns was the first to fall out of it. Louisiana born-and-bred, Burns had managed to play some highly competitive golf all weekend and shot under-par all weekend – which was more than could be said of McIlroy, Scheffler and others – but a bogey on the first and a double-bogey second sunk him simply too far back to recover.