{"id":599141,"date":"2026-04-12T13:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T13:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/599141\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T13:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T13:09:14","slug":"a-history-of-rory-mcilroys-54-hole-leads-in-majors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/599141\/","title":{"rendered":"A History Of Rory McIlroy’s 54-Hole Leads In Majors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy<\/a> came back to field with a 73 on Saturday at the 2026 Masters<\/a> to lose his six-stroke advantage, but he still enters the final round with the lead.<\/p>\n

The defending champion plays alongside Cameron Young in the final pairing<\/a>, with both men locked at 11-under-par. There are a total of eight players within four strokes in what is set to be a thrilling last day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If he wants to win, he is going to have to play well. It’s as simple as that.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow. I’m still tied for the best score going into tomorrow, so I can’t forget that, but I do know I’m going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win” he said.<\/p>\n

While he did lose his big margin, he is still leading heading into Sunday, and it is his eighth 54-hole solo- or co-lead at a Major.<\/p>\n

McIlroy has an impressive record when holding the 54-hole lead in Majors throughout his career, with a record of five wins from seven.<\/p>\n

He has actually only won his Majors after leading with 18 holes to play – he has never come from behind to win.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the Golf Monthly newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest tour news, equipment news, reviews, head-to-heads and buyer\u2019s guides from our team of experienced experts.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at the 54-hole leads McIlroy has had in Majors through the years, starting with a painful one…<\/p>\n

2011 Masters: Shot 80, finished T15<\/p>\n

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\"2011\n<\/p>\n

At just 21, McIlroy looked set to launch his career in a fast way after taking a four-stroke lead into Sunday at Augusta National.<\/p>\n

He started a little shaky but was just one-over-par for his front nine to hold on to his lead before disaster struck on what is now an infamous back nine, starting with a triple-bogey at the 10th after a hooked drive kicked further left up towards the member cabins.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

It went from back to worse, as a bogey followed at the 11th before he four-putted the 12th to all-but end his hopes of a maiden Major triumph.<\/p>\n

His heartbreak was confirmed when he tapped in for 80 to finish ten strokes behind Charl Schwartzel, who finished with four consecutive birdies to win the Green Jacket.<\/p>\n

2011 US Open: Shot 69, won by eight strokes<\/p>\n

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\"Rory\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Just two months on from his Augusta heartbreak, McIlroy once again found himself with a big lead heading into a Major final round.<\/p>\n

He was a remarkable eight-strokes clear of the field at Congressional in the US Open and went on to right the wrongs of Augusta for an easy victory to call himself a deserving Major champion.<\/p>\n

The young Northern Irishman set the US Open 72-hole scoring record of 268 after setting the largest 36- and 54-hole leads in history. He also became the first man to reach 17-under-par in a US Open.<\/p>\n

What a bounce back.<\/p>\n

2012 PGA Championship: Shot 66, won by eight strokes<\/p>\n

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\"Relive\n<\/p>\n

McIlroy didn’t have to wait too long for another 54-hole Major lead, coming at Kiawah Island just over 12 months later at the PGA Championship.<\/p>\n

He entered the final round three strokes clear of Carl Pettersen and strode home with an assured 66 to win by eight strokes and set the championship’s record winning margin.<\/p>\n

2014 Open: Shot 71, won by two strokes<\/p>\n

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\"Rory\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

McIlroy won his third Major title and first Open Championship in 2014 at Royal Liverpool.<\/p>\n

He led Rickie<\/a> Fowler by six strokes heading into Sunday and shot a 71 to win by a narrow two-stroke margin.<\/p>\n

He became the first European to win three different Majors and joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger<\/a> Woods as the only men to win three Majors under the age of 25.<\/p>\n

Just one more to complete the career grand slam<\/a>, The Masters. That wouldn’t take long, right?<\/p>\n

2014 PGA Championship: Shot 71, won by two strokes<\/p>\n

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\"Rory\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Just a month later, McIlroy took his tally to four after winning back-to-back Majors.<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman became a two-time PGA Champion two years after his first, when he held off the likes of Phil Mickelson<\/a>, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson in an entertaining final day at Valhalla.<\/p>\n

He was on top of the world at this point and went on to win his third Ryder Cup the following month at Gleneagles. He also won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and BMW PGA Championship in what was undoubtedly one of the greatest years of his career.<\/p>\n

Little did he, or we, know he wouldn’t win another Major until 2025.<\/p>\n

2022 Open: Shot 70, lost by two strokes (3rd)<\/p>\n

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\"Rory\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

McIlroy, now 33, looked set to end his long Major drought at St Andrews in the 150th Open Championship – but it was a disappointing Sunday.<\/p>\n

He co-led with Viktor Hovland<\/a> heading into the final round, with both men tied at 16-under-par, and they each struggled on the last day.<\/p>\n

McIlroy carded a two-under-par 70 in calm conditions, but was overtaken by the charging Cameron Smith<\/a> who shot a brilliant eight-under-par 64. Cameron Young<\/a> also overtook McIlroy with a 65, leaving the Northern Irishman in third-place and devastated.<\/p>\n

2025 Masters: Shot 73, won in playoff<\/p>\n

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\"Rory\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

When he won The Open in 2014, little did he know it would take him 11 Masters to finally complete the career grand slam.<\/p>\n

He led Bryson DeChambeau<\/a> by two strokes heading into the final round at Augusta National and had lost his lead by the 3rd tee, and a rollercoaster Sunday meant he found himself in a playoff against his Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He birdied the first-extra hole for a historic and emotional victory, which completed the career slam, made him a five-time Major champion and saw him win a Major for the first time in almost 11 years.<\/p>\n

2026 Masters: Tied at -11 with Cameron Young<\/p>\n

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\"Rory\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

With the weight of the career grand slam off his shoulders, McIlroy came out of the blocks fast at the 2026 Masters to shoot 67-65 and open up a six-stroke lead after 36 holes, the largest in Masters history.<\/p>\n

He looked assured and freed up, and it got us thinking he may well win many more Green Jackets over the coming years. And we’re still thinking that.<\/p>\n

Saturday didn’t go as planned, though, as he came back to the field with a one-over-par 73 to be caught at the top by Cameron Young, who shot an exceptional 65.<\/p>\n

A big final round is coming up.<\/p>\n

If he does go on to win, he would become only the fourth man in history to successfully defend The Masters, and he would take his Major tally to six.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy came back to field with a 73 on Saturday at the 2026 Masters to lose his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-599141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}