Taking the Scenic Route to Back-to-Back Masters Victories

After winning last year’s Masters Tournament, Rory McIlroy said that he was hoping to come back to the famed tournament and put the Green Jacket back on himself. He acknowledged in a speech today that he was just a bit off – Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley put the jacket back on him after winning his second Masters in a row.

Last year’s victory made him the sixth player ever – alongside Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods – to complete the career grand slam (winning all four major championships).

Today, Rory joined an even smaller list, becoming just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters Tournaments, and he did in the most Rory way possible.

As I sat anxiously on my couch, I came across a tweet/X post from golf journalist Shane Bacon: “Watching Rory at Augusta is what it feels like to watch Jordan Spieth during every round of golf he plays at every golf course.” And about an hour later, I got the following text from my Dad: “Why does Rory play on hard mode?”

Rory opened the week shooting 67-65, good enough for a six-shot lead heading into the weekend. A tough 73, alongside strong rounds from his competitors, saw him drop to a co-lead position heading into Sunday. And today did not start well. Rory did not take advantage of the par 5 second hole, making par; he birdied the third; and then made double on four, missing a very short putt. After making bogey on six, he was three shots back of the lead – a nine-shot swing from two nights earlier.

After regaining and extending the lead with birdies on 7, 8, 12, and 13, Rory switched on ‘hard mode.’ His drive on 15 found the right trees, and his third shot on the par 5 nearly found the water. The pin was 19 yards from the front of the green, and Rory was feet, if not inches, from hitting his third shot into the water, giving us shades of 13 last year. After making par, Rory stepped up to the 16th tee, with a pin at the bottom of the slope, where he didn’t need to fire at the hole to get it close. What does he do, two-hops it over the green. He ended up making par. On 17, from the right side of the fairway, instead of playing to the middle of the green, he blocks his shot right, leaving himself short-sided with a right pin location. Again, he scrambles for his par.

On 18, Rory held a two-shot lead. His tee shot went so far right that he nearly reached the 10th fairway. After a high draw from the trees into the bunker, he did not scramble for his par, but had an extra shot to work with – making bogey on 18 to win the Masters back-to-back, beating Scottie Scheffler by one stroke.

Now I’m not going to pretend like I know what the nerves one feels as they come down the stretch in the world’s most famous tournament, but come on, Rory, there’s no reason to raise our collective blood pressure and create all that extra stress for yourself. Like, fairway, green, two putts, move on. Is that too much to ask for? In this case, it did not matter. Rory would tell you he did not have his best stuff this week, but it was enough to win his second Masters Tournament.

Rory, congratulations, let’s make it three-in-a-row next April!