Tour Confidential: Unpacking Rory McIlroy's historic Masters win

Rory McIlroy celebrates his 2026 Masters win. getty images Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com . This week, we discuss Rory McIlroy’s Masters performance, Sunday’s pivotal moments at Augusta National, and more.

Rory McIlroy won the Masters to become just the fourth repeat winner in the tournament’s history. McIlroy closed with a 71 to finish 12 under and beat Scottie Scheffler by one. This all, mind you, after he was up by six after 36 holes but lost that all by Saturday night.

How did this happen? What’s your takeaway from his win? Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor ( @zephyrmelton ): Man, that was gritty.

Rory obviously didn’t have his best stuff over the weekend — and he said as much during his Butler Cabin interview — but he played just well enough over the weekend to nab another green jacket. There’s something extra impressive in watching someone win without their best stuff, and Rory did exactly that this weekend. Sean Zak, senior writer ( @sean_zak ): Excuse the modern parlance, but this Masters felt like a movie, with an opening act, a middle contextualization, some conflict and then a bit of late drama.