McIlroy repeats at Augusta

Rory McIlroy left Augusta National with another green jacket on Sunday, winning the 2026 Masters by one shot at 12-under par. (masters.com) McIlroy closed with a 1-under 71 for a 276 total, finishing ahead of Scottie Scheffler at 11-under. Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Justin Rose and Cameron Young tied for third at 10-under. (masters.com) The final round turned on the back nine, where McIlroy birdied the 12th and 13th holes to reach 13-under before a bogey on 18 left him one clear. The PGA Tour’s live report said he needed “improbable par saves” on the second nine and called his tee shot at the par-3 12th the signature shot of the day. (pgatour.com) Augusta stages the Masters every April, and only a handful of players have won it in consecutive years. McIlroy became the first man to defend the title there since Tiger Woods, according to the PGA Tour’s final-round account. (pgatour.com) The repeat came one year after McIlroy won his first Masters on April 13, 2025, beating Justin Rose in a playoff to complete the career Grand Slam. That 2025 victory ended an 11-year major drought and gave him the one major title he had been missing. (espn.com) McIlroy is 36, and the 2026 title was his sixth major championship and 30th PGA Tour victory, according to the PGA Tour and Associated Press reporting carried by the tour site. He opened this year’s tournament with 67, shot 65 on Friday, and entered Sunday after rounds of 67-65-73. (pgatour.com) (espn.com) Scheffler’s charge nearly erased the gap. CBS News reported that his 65-68 weekend made him the first player since 1942 to play the final 36 holes at Augusta without a bogey, but he still finished one behind. (cbsnews.com) Rose was back in the mix again after losing the 2025 playoff, and the PGA Tour said his par at 18 capped his sixth top-10 finish at Augusta and his ninth straight Masters finish of 25th or better. Cameron Young shared the 54-hole lead with McIlroy before shooting 73 on Sunday. (pgatour.com) (sports.yahoo.com) By the time McIlroy tapped in on 18, the week had shifted from title defense to place-in-history talk. He walked off the green as a two-time Masters champion, and Augusta’s leaderboard showed the margin was as thin as it looked on television: one shot. (pgatour.com) (masters.com)