McIlroy repeats at Augusta
Rory McIlroy won the 2026 Masters, becoming just the fourth man to defend the title at Augusta National and closing out a tense final round. ( ). He held off Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young and Justin Rose — edging Scheffler by one shot — and collected $4.5 million as part of a $22.5 million purse this year. ( ).
Rory McIlroy won the Masters again on Sunday, becoming the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to defend the title at Augusta National. (pgatour.com) McIlroy finished at 12-under and beat Scottie Scheffler by one shot in the final round of the 90th Masters Tournament on April 12, 2026. Cameron Young and Justin Rose were also in the late chase as Augusta tightened on the back nine. (nbcsports.com) (nytimes.com) The win was worth $4.5 million from a record $22.5 million purse, the biggest payout in Masters history. Augusta National announced the new purse on Saturday, one year after the 2025 winner’s share was $4.2 million from a $21 million total. (golfchannel.com) (cbssports.com) (golfweek.usatoday.com) Only four men have now won back-to-back Masters titles: Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods and McIlroy. McIlroy is 36 and the victory gave him his sixth major championship. (aljazeera.com) (nbcsports.com) The repeat came one year after McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2025 Masters, a result that ended a major drought stretching back to 2014. This time he arrived as defending champion and left with a second straight green jacket. (nypost.com) (pgatour.com) The final round stayed tight because Scheffler charged from well back over the weekend and McIlroy did not pull away. Yahoo Sports reported that McIlroy still survived a tee shot into the woods on 18 and closed out the one-shot win. (sports.yahoo.com) (usatoday.com) Scheffler, the 2022 and 2024 Masters champion, finished second after starting the weekend 12 shots behind McIlroy. Young entered Sunday tied with McIlroy in the final pairing, while Rose made an early run before fading behind the leaders. (sports.yahoo.com) (golfweek.usatoday.com) (forbes.com) McIlroy now leaves Augusta with two green jackets, six majors and a place in one of the tournament’s shortest lists. On Sunday, that was enough to hold off the deepest leaderboard in golf and do something Augusta had not seen in 24 years. (pgatour.com) (aljazeera.com)
