McIlroy defends Masters

Rory McIlroy kept the green jacket at Augusta National on Sunday, closing with a 1-under 71 to win the 2026 Masters by one shot. (golfchannel.com) He finished at 12-under 276, one ahead of Scottie Scheffler, who pushed into second after charging on the final day at the 90th Masters Tournament. (golfchannel.com) McIlroy was 13-under through 17 holes before a closing bogey at No. 18 trimmed the margin to one. He had started Sunday tied for the lead with Cameron Young after a third-round 73 erased a six-shot advantage. (espn.com) The win gave McIlroy his sixth major championship and made him the first player to defend the Masters title since Tiger Woods won in 2001 and 2002. Only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Woods and now McIlroy have won back-to-back at Augusta. (nbcsports.com) That list matters at Augusta because the Masters is the only men’s major played on the same course every year. Repeating there means handling the same pressure points, the same greens and the same Sunday expectations a second straight April. (theathletic.com) McIlroy arrived at the 2025 Masters carrying an 11-year major drought and completed the career Grand Slam with that win. One year later, he left Augusta with two green jackets and the same total of six majors as Nick Faldo. (si.com; skysports.com) Scheffler, the Masters champion in 2022 and 2024, finished alone in second and nearly turned the back nine into a three-time winner’s march. Instead, McIlroy answered enough mistakes with enough birdies to keep the lead through the final walk up 18. (nbcsports.com; theathletic.com) The victory also carried the tournament’s biggest paycheck. The 2026 Masters purse rose to $22.5 million, and McIlroy’s winner’s share was $4.5 million. (pgatour.com; cbssports.com) For McIlroy, the final number was the same one that mattered most: 12-under, again in front at Augusta, again in the green jacket. (golfchannel.com)