Rory McIlroy claimed a one-shot victory at The Masters on Sunday to become the first back-to-back champion since Tiger Woods.
After building a record six-stroke halfway lead at Augusta National, McIlroy experienced a wobble over the last two days as Cameron Young and Justin Rose both spent time in top spot.
The world number two then posted a final-round 71 to finish on 12 under, one ahead of Scottie Scheffler, with Tyrrell Hatton, Rose, Young and Russell Henley sharing third.
McIlroy relieved after win
“I don’t make it easy,” McIlroy admitted in the aftermath of his narrow victory.
“I used to make it easy back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots. Now, it’s just hard.
“It’s hard to win golf tournaments, especially around here. You’ve had maybe a couple of runaway winners over the years, but it always seems to be a very tight finish at this golf course.
“I think it’s the nature of the golf course, it’s the nature of what’s at stake.
“I certainly didn’t think I was home and dry after Friday night, and I knew I still needed work to do. I thought I would need to shoot under-par to get the job done, but thankfully I did enough.”
The Northern Irishman added: “I just can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one Green Jacket and I get two in a row. I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off.”
Defending champion survives scare
“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win The Masters and the Grand Slam, then this year I realised it’s just really difficult to win The Masters,” McIlroy continued.
“I obviously did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday. I don’t think I would have believed anyone if they said to me all you have to do is shoot even-par for the weekend and you’ll win.
“I definitely thought I was going to need to go out there and at least shoot a couple of under-par scores. I just had to hang in there.
“Having a six-shot lead going into the weekend, it would have been a bitter pill to swallow if I wasn’t able to get myself over the finish line.”
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Rose rues missed chance
“I was really in control. The mentality was to run through the finish line, not just try and get it done,” Rose explained after seeing his hopes dashed on Sunday.
“I was playing great, but momentum shifted for me around the Amen Corner.
“Just a chance that got away obviously. I was by no means free and clear and was nowhere close to having the job done, but I was right in position.”
The Englishman also complimented the fans at Augusta, saying: “The crowd was amazing to me all week long. They pulled for me all week long. I felt their encouragement and support.
“At the end, it kind of goes a little flat. It’s more of a sympathy than anything. It was still nonetheless very beautiful, but another little stinger.”
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Scheffler praises ‘resilient’ McIlroy
“I’ve competed against him for a long time, and you don’t win the amount of tournaments that he’s won out here without being pretty resilient,” Scheffler said of McIlroy.
“Having a six-shot lead at Augusta is never easy, and losing that is obviously something difficult.
“But at the end of the day, when you tee it up here on Sunday, he’s tied for the lead to start the day and had a solid round and did what he needed to do in order to get it done.
“I knew going into [the final round] I was going to have to do something special if I wanted to catch him and Cam, and I was close but just a few shots here or there.
“Overall, over the weekend, I put up a good fight and proud of how I played. I did a lot of good stuff in order to give myself a chance and ultimately came up short.”
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