Donald hails Europe's 'best' as McIlroy nears majors record

Rory McIlroy says he has no plans "to stop here" after emerging from a white knuckle final round to retain the Masters and match European great Sir Nick Faldo's haul of six major titles.

Tied with Cameron Young overnight, McIlroy slipped two shots off the lead after six holes but rallied to beat Scottie Scheffler by a stroke at Augusta National and become the fourth player to win successive Masters.

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald said McIlroy is "undoubtedly the best European golfer of all time now" as he moved to within one of Harry Vardon, the Jersey-born golfer who between 1896-1914 won a record six Open Championships and a US Open in a time before the Masters or US PGA Championship had been established.

Faldo won three Masters and three Open titles between 1989-96.

However, McIlroy is the only European to have won all four majors.

American Jack Nicklaus holds the Masters and overall record with six and 18 respectively, with Tiger Woods having won five times at Augusta and 15 majors.

"I tie Nick, so there's going to be that conversation and debate. It's a cool conversation to be a part of," he said when asked about being considered Europe's greatest.

"It took me 10 years to win my fifth major, and then my sixth one's come pretty soon after it. I'm not putting a number on it, but I certainly don't want to stop here."

With three more majors to come this year, McIlroy added he does not anticipate the "lull of motivation" he felt in the wake of his career Grand Slam-sealing Masters win last year.

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Final hole caused 'greatest stress'

To win last year, McIlroy needed to beat Justin Rose - who finished tied third on Sunday having led by two at the turn - in a sudden death play-off after bogeying the 72nd hole.

And he did not make it much easier for himself this time around. Having scorched the field to take a record six-shot lead after 36 holes, he stuttered to a one-over 73 on Saturday.

Tied with Young going into Sunday, Northern Ireland's McIlroy heaped pressure on himself with a sloppy double-bogey five on the fourth after three-putting from eight feet.

He dropped another shot at the par-three sixth, but after mixing four birdies with seven pars to build a two-shot lead over world number one Scheffler heading to the last, he said his "greatest stress" on Sunday was not knowing where his ball ended up on the 18th after flailing his drive right and in among the trees.

"It could go anywhere. It could be anywhere," added the world number two, who also drew level with Americans Phil Mickelson and Lee Trevino on six majors.

"There were a few others. I thought my second putt on 11 was huge to avoid making bogey there."

Despite falling behind Young and Rose, and with Scheffler creeping up the leaderboard, McIlroy insisted he never felt as though his chance had slipped away.

"If I hadn't birdied the seventh and eighth holes, I would have started to push a little bit," added the 36-year-old, who became just the sixth wire-to-wire Masters winner.

"But I think the birdies on seven and eight, Justin bogeying 11 and 12, and then me birdieing 12, I never felt like I was out of it. I never felt like I had to press at all."

McIlroy missed a six-footer for birdie on nine before taking control at Augusta National's famed Amen Corner which takes in the latter half of the 11th hole, all of 12 and the tee shot on 13.

He followed a gutsy par save on 11 with birdies at the next two holes.

McIlroy played a wonderful shot to seven feet on the par-three 12th - closer than any other player on Sunday - to make what he called a "bonus" birdie before finding the fairway at the par-five 13th for the first time this year which led to another birdie

"Last year, I had that three or four-shot cushion going to the 13th tee, and I started to be a little defensive. That came back to bite me a little bit," he added, referring to hitting his third shot into the creek that protects the green as he made a double bogey.

"So I stayed aggressive. Even though I hit three really poor tee shots on 13 the first three days, I stayed aggressive, and finally I made a good swing and hit a good tee shot.

"Staying aggressive and staying committed, especially on those two holes, definitely served me this week."

While McIlroy admitted he was not as emotional as last year when he tapped in the winning putt, he said it was "amazing" to savour the moment with his parents, who did not make the trip to Augusta 12 months ago.

"I caught myself on the golf course a couple of times thinking about them, and I was like no, not yet, not yet. It's really cool to have them here," said McIlroy, who choked back tears as he thanked them during his winning speech.

"I had to convince them to come this year because they thought the reason I won last year was because they weren't here.

"I'm glad we proved that wrong, so they can keep coming as long as they want. It's amazing to have them here. I'm excited to celebrate with them."