Rory McIlroy Wins Back-to-Back Masters Titles, First Since Tiger Woods

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland won the Masters Tournament, with a $20 million purse, for a second straight year. [Photo=Yonhap/Reuters]

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland won the Masters Tournament for a second consecutive year, a feat not achieved since Tiger Woods did it 24 years ago.

McIlroy shot a 1-under 71 in the final round Sunday (Korea time) at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, with five birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey.

He finished at 12-under 276, edging Scottie Scheffler of the United States (11-under 277) by one stroke to claim the green jacket. The winner’s prize was $4.5 million (about 6.6 billion won).

With the victory, McIlroy became the fourth player to successfully defend a Masters title, joining Jack Nicklaus (1965-1966), Nick Faldo (1989-1990) and Woods (2001-2002).

McIlroy also led from the opening round through the finish for a wire-to-wire win. The Masters last had a wire-to-wire champion in 2020, when Dustin Johnson won. The title was McIlroy’s first win of the season and the 30th of his PGA Tour career.

The result eased recent injury concerns. McIlroy tied for second at the Genesis Invitational in February, then withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with back pain. He later tied for 46th at The Players Championship.

At Augusta National, he showed sharper play from the start, combining accurate shots and putting to stay atop the leaderboard and close out a second straight Masters title.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Kang Sang Heon ksh@ajunews.com