Rory McIlroy wins second straight Masters, sixth major championship

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Green Jacket belongs to Rory McIlroy again.

The Northern Irishman overcame a double bogey on the first nine but carded two birdies on the three-hole stretch known as Amen Corner and held off the late charge of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to win the 90th Masters by a stroke and become the fourth player to defend his title.

Rory McIlroy tees off on the 12th hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images

On a warm, sunny day with a few puffy white clouds to break up the baby-blue canvas at Augusta National, McIlroy claimed his sixth career major title, shooting 1-under 71 and signing for a 72-hole total of 12-under 276.

McIlroy, who shared the 54-hole lead with Cameron Young, fell two behind after he tugged his tee shot at the par-3 fourth hole left and lipped out a short bogey putt. He dipped into single-digits at 9 under when he bogeyed No. 6. The patrons groaned when the score was posted up ahead at the leaderboard behind the seventh green but it would be the final dropped shot for McIlroy. He turned things around with birdies at Nos. 7 and 8, but Rose had shot past him reaching 12 under with four birdies before the turn.

Rose, who lost to McIlroy in a sudden-death playoff last year, looked poised to flip the script, grabbing a two-stroke lead as he headed to the back nine, but he bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12 and made a three-putt par at No. 13. At 45, he remains the nearly-man, closing in 70, and finished T-3 with Tyrrell Hatton (66), Russell Henley (68) and Cameron Young (73). Amen Corner was kinder to McIlroy, who made an orthodox par at 11, drilled a beauty to 10 feet at 12 for birdie and mashed a 350-yard tee shot at 13 to set up another birdie and reach 13-under. That opened up a three-stroke lead for McIlroy, who completed the career Grand Slam at the Masters a year ago.

Scheffler chased him to the finish line. After trailing by a dozen at the midway point, Scheffler posted 65 on Saturday to make up eight of those strokes. He made birdie on two of the first three holes on Sunday but the comeback stalled with 12 straight pars. He broke that streak with an improbable birdie at 15, his first birdie on either of the second nine par 5s all week. He birdied 16, too, to trim the deficit to two but that was as close as he could get.

McIlroy shared the 18-hole lead with a 5-under 67, which led 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples to claim, “Rory may never lose this thing again after last year.”

Couples looked to be prescient when McIlroy caught fire on Friday with birdies on six of his last seven holes, including a remarkable chip-in at 17, to shoot 65 and build a six-stroke lead, the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history. Scott Van Pelt, calling the action on ESPN, summed it up perfectly. “It felt like Zeus on Olympus throwing thunderbolts.”

But the Masters was far from over. It was simply halftime and McIlroy would wobble to a 1-over 73 on Saturday as he fought a miss to the left. By the time he made bogey at 12, his lead was gone. Talk of a coronation ceremony was postponed but McIlroy kept things from spiraling out of control on Saturday, and a day later, he proved he could win a major without his best stuff. He played Amen Corner five strokes better on Sunday than he had the day before. There were several nerve-wracking moments for McIlroy down the stretch beginning when his pitch to the 15th green hopped forward rather than spun back and he escaped with par. He added tidy up-and-downs at 16 and 17 before flaring his tee shot way right into the pine trees at 18 but a bogey was good enough for the victory.

For the 10th straight year, the winner came out of the final pairing. With a second Green Jacket, McIlroy reached six career majors, tying him with England’s Nick Faldo and American Lee Trevino. Speaking before the tournament, McIlroy shared what a difference getting the monkey off his back could mean to him.

“I know that I can do it now, so that should make it a little easier for me to go out and play the golf I want to play.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Masters 2026: Rory McIlroy wins second straight green jacket