Rory McIlroy's Thrilling Masters Victory Defines Golf History

Rory McIlroy joins an elite group of sports star with victory at Augusta National tonight. But boy did he make his fans sweat with an absolute nail-biter of a game.

Golf's Most Exclusive Club
Only five players in the history of golf have won the career Grand Slam of four majors - that's the Open, the US Open, USPGA and The Masters. Those men are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Now add Rory McIlroy. It hasn't happened in 25 years and has only happened once in the last 59 years. But on Sunday night McIlroy found form, found the water of Ray's Creek and found some luck out in the shadows of the pine trees of Georgia.

An Intense Play-Off
In a rollercoaster of an 89th Masters, McIlroy was utterly tenacious and battled it out in a play-off with England's Justin Rose in a pressure-cooker game of golf. McIlroy started the day with a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau, lost it on the first hole and trailed by one on the next, but birdied the next two to extend his advantage amidst a pulsating atmosphere at Augusta National. McIlroy edged back in front with a tap-in birdie on the 17th, only to push his approach to the last into a greenside bunker. After splashing out to around four feet, McIlroy dragged his par putt wide to set up the first Masters play-off since Rose lost out to Sergio Garcia in 2017.