As of April 12th, 2026, after his tap-in putt on the 12th hole, Rory McIlroy has officially won the Masters 2 consecutive years. The last golfer to do this was Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002. This astonishing accomplishment at Augusta is one for the records after beating the projected champion (Scottie Sheffler) by one stroke.
McIlroy dominated his first two rounds even shooting a 65 on Friday. This gave him a six shot lead through those rounds, which hasn’t been done in the 90 editions of The Masters. In that round he shot 9 birdies, four of them came consecutively on the last holes. Weeks leading up to the tournament Rory was on the course, quote, “I joked last week and going into this week that this place feels like my home course.” With ice in his veins McIlroy did just that. In one of his practice rounds he had supposedly shot a 62, which would make a new course record.
In his award speech Rory thanks his family, wife Erica and daughter Poppy. Emotional McIlroy shares he was “a little kid with a dream”. After being one of four golfers in history to win back to back green jackets. Those golfers include notorious legends Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Nick Faldo. With a 6 stroke lead after the second round Rory’s quoted saying, “My mindset is just trying to keep playing well and keep my foot on the gas.” In his last two rounds he shot one over in the third and one under in the fourth
While this is by far McIlroy’s biggest accomplishment, he isn’t new to success nor winning. In total he has 27 PGA Tour victories in his age 36 season. He is the sixth man to complete the modern career grand slam, winning the 4 tours in the same year. The 5 others include Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. McIlroy being the first European golfer to accomplish this feat.