AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy is the Masters champion again, this time without falling to his knees on the 18th green and sobbing over finally achieving his lifelong dream.<\/p>\n
That didn’t make Sunday at Augusta National any easier.<\/p>\n
McIlroy coughed up a six-shot lead<\/a> in the third round. He fell two shots behind two players, Cameron Young and Justin Rose,<\/a> in an electric final round. And then he delivered two big birdies around Amen Corner to join more elite company.<\/p>\n A year ago, his playoff victory<\/a> over Rose made McIlroy only the sixth player with the career Grand Slam. With another green jacket, McIlroy joined Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only repeat winners of the Masters.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam, and then this year I realized it\u2019s just really difficult to win the Masters,\u201d McIlroy said after holding on for a one-shot victory over Scottie Scheffler.<\/a> \u201cJust incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n As usual, he kept everyone on edge until the very end.<\/p>\n His wedge barely cleared the false front of the par-5 15th, a shot that could have been disastrous. His putt from behind the 16th green made a sharp turn down the slope to inches away save par. He saved par with a tough chip on the 17th. Staked to a two-shot lead, his tee shot on the 18th wound up closer to the 10th fairway.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say walking off the 18th tee not knowing where my ball was, that was the moment of greatest stress,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n He drilled 8-iron around the trees into a bunker, blasted out to 12 feet and took two putts for bogey and a 1-under 71. He thrust both arms in the air and made good on a promise.<\/p>\n \u201cMy parting message last year was I can’t wait to come back and put the jacket on myself,\u201d McIlroy said at the trophy presentation. \u201cI wasn’t quite correct.\u201d<\/p>\n For the first time since Woods won back-to-back in 2002, it was left to the Augusta National chairman \u2014 Hootie Johnson for Woods, Fred Ridley for McIlroy \u2014 to do the honors. \u201cIt still fits,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n Better than ever.<\/p>\n He now has six majors, tied with Faldo, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson. And that sense of freedom he brought back to Augusta National as a champion carried him to the finish line.<\/p>\n McIlroy seized control for good with a bold shot over Rae\u2019s Creek<\/a> to 7 feet for birdie on the par-3 12th. Then he blistered a 350-yard drive on the par-5 13th \u2014 he had been in the trees the previous three rounds \u2014 that set up another birdie to move three shots ahead.<\/p>\n He finished at 12-under 276.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump congratulated McIlroy on social media as he flew back to Washington from Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cWith each year, Rory is becoming more and more a LEGEND!\u201d Trump wrote. McIlroy\u2019s next tournament is likely to be the Cadillac Championship in two weeks at Trump Doral outside Miami.<\/p>\n It was more heartache for Rose, and frustration for the others who had a chance.<\/p>\n Rose had a two-shot lead that evaporated around Amen Corner with two bogeys and a three-putt par. He had to settle for a third close call at the Masters.<\/p>\n Young lost his two-shot lead much earlier with a long three-putt bogey on the par-3 sixth and taking bogey on the next hole when he hit wedge from the fairway into a bunker. One shot behind going to the back nine, Young closed with nine straight pars.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no negative to take away other than obviously I would\u2019ve loved a different result,\u201d Young said. \u201cI pretty much had a birdie chance on every hole and didn\u2019t make any. That\u2019s how it goes sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player was in position to shatter the Masters record with the largest 36-hole comeback in history. He was 12 behind going into the weekend. He was two shots behind as he approached the turn. But he ran off 11 straight pars, and that wasn’t going to cut it during a final round with accessible pins to create excitement.<\/p>\n Scheffler had to settle for his third runner-up finish in the majors to go along with four titles. His 65-68 weekend made him the first player since 1942 to go bogey-free on the weekend at Augusta.<\/p>\n \u201cI put up a good fight in order to give myself a chance,\u201d Scheffler said.<\/p>\n