Masters co‑lead set
Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young enter the final round of the 2026 Masters tied at 11‑under, turning Sunday into a two‑way duel rather than a coronation. (nytimes.com) McIlroy is 18 holes away from becoming only the fourth player to win back‑to‑back Masters titles, and Golf.com shows McIlroy will be in the tournament’s final pairing alongside Justin Rose for the close of play. ( ) Broad coverage and recap video reporting flagged McIlroy’s surge earlier in the week — including a run that built a six‑shot advantage after birdies on the final four holes of Round 2 — before the leaderboard tightened heading into Sunday. ( )
Rory McIlroy’s march to a second straight Masters title has turned into a Sunday shootout with Cameron Young at Augusta National. (nytimes.com) McIlroy and Young began the final round on Sunday, April 12, tied at 11-under after McIlroy shot 73 on Saturday and Young surged with a 65. Seven players started the day within five shots of the lead. (nytimes.com; pgatour.com) The final pairing went off at 2:25 p.m. Eastern with Young and McIlroy together, while Sam Burns and Shane Lowry teed off 11 minutes earlier and Jason Day and Justin Rose followed the second-to-last pairing at 2:03 p.m. Eastern. (pgatour.com; golfchannel.com) McIlroy is chasing a place occupied by only three men in Masters history: Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods all won back-to-back green jackets. McIlroy won the 2025 Masters in a playoff, ending a 17-year wait for his first title at Augusta National. (espn.com) Young is trying to win his first major championship, and his 65 on Saturday erased what had been the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history. McIlroy had reached 12-under on Friday after birdieing six of his last seven holes, including the final four. (pgatour.com; espn.com; espn.co.uk) That Friday burst reset the tournament. McIlroy’s 65 gave him a six-shot edge after 36 holes, breaking the previous Augusta National mark of five shots shared by six players, including Scottie Scheffler in 2022 and Jordan Spieth in 2015. (espn.com) The shape of Sunday changed on Saturday, when McIlroy gave shots back and the board compressed behind him. By the start of the final round, the tournament had shifted from a title defense with cushion to 18 holes with no margin at the top. (nytimes.com; sports.yahoo.com) Sunday now asks a simpler question than Friday did: whether McIlroy can finish off history, or whether Young can turn a chase into his first green jacket. Augusta National had 18 holes left to decide it. (golfchannel.com; nytimes.com)
