McIlroy wins back‑to‑back

Rory McIlroy kept the Masters green jacket on Sunday, winning at Augusta National for the second straight year by one stroke. (espn.com) McIlroy closed the 90th Masters at 12-under 276 after a final-round 71 on April 12, 2026. Scottie Scheffler finished second at 11-under after a bogey-free 68. (golfchannel.com) The margin stayed tight to the end. McIlroy made bogey at the 18th hole, but the final leaderboard still left him one shot clear of Scheffler and out of a playoff. (espn.com) The win put McIlroy in a short list at Augusta National. ESPN and The Athletic said he became the first back-to-back Masters champion since Tiger Woods won in 2001 and 2002, and only the fourth player to defend the title. (espn.com; nytimes.com) That history landed one year after McIlroy finally won his first Masters in 2025 to complete the career Grand Slam, the four men’s major championships. He needed 3,899 days between major titles before that 2025 breakthrough, then only 364 more to win the next one. (cbssports.com) This year’s defense was not a runaway. NBC Sports said McIlroy shot 73 on Saturday after taking what it called the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history on Friday, then had to fend off a crowded leaderboard on Sunday. (nbcsports.com) Scheffler’s charge made the finish feel even smaller than one stroke. CBS Sports said he became the first golfer since at least 1942, when Augusta National began keeping statistics, to play the final two rounds of the Masters without a bogey. (cbssports.com) The final board showed Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Young and Russell Henley tied for third at 9-under. McIlroy still walked off the 18th with the same prize he took a year earlier: another green jacket, and a place deeper in Masters history. (skysports.com)