Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy completed his career grand slam by winning the Masters Tournament in a playoff against Englishman Justin Rose. The Masters is known to be the most coveted golf tournament, held at Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia. McIlroy won his last major at the 2014 PGA championship.
McIlroy got off to a slow start by shooting even in his first round, sitting in the middle of the leaderboard. He shot a six under par on his second round, rocketing himself up to being tied for third. He shot six under again during his third round, putting himself in the lead by two strokes over Bryson DeChambeau. McIlroy went into his last round at 12 under par, Rose was five under par and tied for fifth.
Entering the final nine holes, McIlroy had a commanding five stroke lead over second place, and was seven strokes ahead of Rose. Then, Rose started playing his best golf. He shot four under par on the final nine holes, moving to 11 under par. On the other hand, McIlroy fumbled away the lead by shooting three over par on the last nine holes, and missing a short putt for the win on the 18th hole. This left them both 11 under, triggering a playoff round on the famous 18th hole. McIlroy piped his drive 314 yards down the fairway, hit an approach shot close to the hole, and sunk a four foot putt to achieve his Masters dream. He fell to his knees with excitement in his eyes.
After the last day, DeChambeau, who was in second place, fell to being tied for fourth after a below average last round. Ludvig Aberg, who was toe-to-toe with McIlroy, went from 10 under to six under in the span of the last three holes. Number one ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, finished in third at eight under par. Canadian Corey Conners, who was consistently floating in the top three, finished in sixth place at five under. To most people’s surprise, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson failed to make the cut after the second day, meaning they did not play well enough in the first two rounds to play the third and fourth.
