Rory McIlroy turned another major collapse into his grandest performance of all, hitting a wedge into 4 feet for birdie in a sudden-death playoff Sunday to finally win the Masters and take his place in golf history as the sixth player to claim the career Grand Slam.
What should have been a coronation along the back nine at Augusta National turned into a heart-racing, lead-changing jaw-dropping finish at golf’s greatest theater that ended with McIlroy on his knees sobbing with joy and disbelief.
He lost a two-shot lead in two shots at the start. He lost a four-shot lead on the back nine in a matter of three holes with shocking misses, one of them a wedge into the tributary of Rae’s Creek on the par-5 13th.
And right when it looked as though he would blow another major, he delivered two majestic shots when nothing less would do.
McIlroy went 11 long years without a major, knowing the Masters green jacket was all that kept him from joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only winners of golf’s four professional majors.
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