Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Back-to-Back Jackets

History will forever record Rory McIlroy's victory at the 90th Masters as wire to wire. Really, it was more like high wire to high wire.

While McIlroy did own at least a share of the lead after every round -- the definition of wire to wire -- there were an endless number of highs and lows, oohs and ahs, mid-round plot twists, momentum swings, gasps and lost leads. It was exhausting just watching.

The fact that McIlroy fought back every single time shows the resiliency of the greatest golfer of his generation.

One year after making history by winning the Masters and becoming the sixth man to complete the career grand slam, McIlroy won again on Sunday at Augusta National to become only the fourth golfer to win back-to-back green jackets. He joined Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02).

"I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam," McIlroy said, "and then this year I realized it's just really difficult to win the Masters."

It also was the sixth major for the 36-year-old McIlroy, tying Faldo, Phil Mickelson and Lee Trevino for 12th place on the all-time list. Up next with seven majors and a tie for seventh all-time are, among others, Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones. Harry Vardon from Jersey also has seven and is the all-time European leader, though he won his from 1896 to 1914, when these tournaments were not even considered majors -- and the Masters didn't even exist.

Really, McIlroy is the greatest European golfer in history and is on the cusp of being top-10 all-time -- if he's not there already -- especially when you consider all his Ryder Cup heroics.

After winning four majors in rapid fashion from 2011 to 2014, McIlroy went dormant for more than a decade, until last year's Masters. So how many more can he win?

"It took me 10 years to win my fifth major, and then my sixth one's come pretty soon after it," McIlroy said. "I'm not putting a number on it, but I certainly don't want to stop here."

After McIlroy took a tournament-record six-shot lead into the weekend, this Masters appeared over, right?

Ah, you must be new around here.

McIlroy proceeded to blow the entire lead by the end of Saturday, entering the final round in a tie with Cameron Young. An early birdie on No. 3 on Sunday was erased and then some by a double on 4 and another bogey on 6. McIlroy was reeling. Until he birdied 7 and 8.

He birdied 12 and 13 to wrest control. But then he almost hit into the water on 15 before saving par, then missed the green on both 16 and 17 yet saved par again both times.

Watching McIlroy play golf is not for the faint of heart, especially on a Sunday in the state of Georgia.

Even with a two-stroke lead heading to 18, the roller-coaster ride still had one final lap. McIlroy chose to hit driver, and he hit it way right, deep into the trees almost onto the 10th fairway. He was in the dreaded pinestraw, 179 yards from the hole. Flashes of Mickelson imploding at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006 surely popped into the heads of many golf observers.

"I'd say walking off the 18th tee not knowing where my ball was, that was the moment of greatest stress," McIlroy said.

Yuh think?

But McIlroy was able to not only get the ball out but into a greenside bunker. Needing three shots to win, he used all three, ending with a 12-under score, one better than Scottie Scheffler. With the world No. 1 birdieing 16 and 17 and not making a bogey since Friday, McIlroy did not want to go anywhere near a playoff.

"I don't make it easy. I used to make it easy, back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots," he said. "But it's hard. It's hard to win golf tournaments, especially around here."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler has not been at his best this season. Which means he finished only second at the Masters. A brilliant 65-68 weekend left him one shot shy of McIlroy after beginning the weekend 12 shots back. He was charging so hard at the end, he just ran out of holes. Scheffler became the first player since 1942 to have a bogey-free weekend at the Masters. That's almost the entire history of the tournament, which began in 1934. It does not matter that Scheffler became a father for the second time two weeks ago, or that his iron play has not been as crisp this season. His B game is better than 98 percent of the PGA Tour, and he showed on the weekend that he could very well add major title No. 5 this season. He needs only the U.S. Open to complete the career grand slam.

Justin Rose
Rose came up short. Again. The man who has finished runner-up three times at the Masters tied for third this time around. And this year, he did not fall victim to a hot golfer or miracle shot. He owned a two-stroke lead on the second-nine and bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12. He just made too many mistakes down the stretch, with three bogeys after the turn. This was another excellent tournament for Rose, though he wouldn't agree right now. At 45 years old, how many more chances will he have to get that elusive green jacket?

Cameron Young
Young looked so poised to win his first major early in the round on Sunday, overtaking McIlroy after they shared the 54-hole lead. But the stoic Young, the one who handled all the big moments last month at THE PLAYERS Championship, could not fully handle the pressure of a Sunday at the Masters. He had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch to close the first-nine, then could not sink a putt in parring out the second-nine. He shot 1-over 73 to tie for third. Clearly, Young's first major is coming, and this difficult day at Augusta will eventually help him get there.

Tyrrell Hatton
Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau were the trumpeted LIV players heading into the Masters. They didn't make a dent. But Hatton continued his great play in majors over the past three years, closing with a 6-under 66 to zoom into a tie for third. The Englishman now has three top-10s and three other top-16s going back eight majors to the 2024 Masters.

Russell Henley
The metronomic Henley was once again in the conversation to win his first major title. He closed with a 66-68 weekend, but that was good enough only for a tie for third. That's still his best career major finish. Henley hits his drives straight, he hits his irons straight, he putts pretty well. He just had one fatal shot on No. 12 and couldn't sink enough putts -- or any putts -- going down the stretch.

Sam Burns
If Burns is known for anything in golf, it's for coming up short in the biggest moments in the biggest tournaments. While he did tie for seventh, matching his career-best showing in a major, he had a real chance to win this Masters. Instead, he doubled No. 2 and bogeyed No. 3 and that largely ended his chances. Three late cosmetic birdies moved him into the top-10. At some point, you'd think that the soon-to-be 30-year-old Burns would take the next step in his career; for a good chunk of the week, it looked like this would be the time.

Collin Morikawa
We didn't know whether Morikawa would even play, we didn't know how well he could walk. Well, he played and played great – but didn't look so good walking. Somehow, Morikawa powered through a back injury that knocked him out of THE PLAYERS Championship to tie for seventh, even though he appeared to be in discomfort all week. As of Sunday night, he was still in the field for the RBC Heritage. Let's keep a close eye on this one.

Xander Schauffele
Schauffele tied for ninth, his fourth straight Masters top-10 and sixth all told. There were times all week that he looked like he'd make his way on to the first page of the leaderboard, but he just never got enough going. He shot only one round in the 60s – a 68 on Sunday. It still says here that Schauffele will win a tournament this year. He looks close.

Max Homa
Homa's career has fallen so far over the past couple of years. He plays great like once a year now. Fortunately for him, that once comes in the Masters, which gets him into the next year's Masters. Homa tied for ninth – his best result all season – so he'll be back at Augusta in 2027.

Jake Knapp
Knapp had played great all season – except at THE PLAYERS Championship. So it was fair to wonder how he'd handle an even bigger stage at the Masters. Just fine, thank you. Knapp tied for 11th, meaning he'll be back next year, though with a likely longstanding place in the top-50 OWGR, that was gonna happen regardless.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth tied for 12th, which was his fourth top-12 this season without a top-10. That's not easy to do! This tracks with the Spieth storyline these days, that he's a very good golfer but no longer a great one. He's still good enough to win, though Augusta National might be his best chance.

Brooks Koepka
After not showing up in majors for the bulk of his LIV tenure, missing 3 of 4 cuts last year and not registering a top-10 since winning the 2023 PGA Championship, a lot of eyes were on Koepka this week. He didn't contend, and he shot only one round in the 60s, but he did enough to tie for 12th. It appears his game is close, but we've been saying that for months now.

Patrick Reed
It was no surprise that Reed found himself on the first page of the leaderboard for a good chunk of the Masters. What was a surprise was the Sunday fade. He had two early bogeys on the first-nine, then a double on 13 to punctuate a frustrating 73 that dropped him into a tie for 12th. His game really is good enough and a good fit for Augusta. But maybe not in any other major.

Jason Day
Day has had a lot of good weeks at the Masters, including this one. But a 75 on Sunday dropped him into a tie for 12th – good enough to secure a return invite for 2027, though disappointing since he was very close to the lead on the weekend. He bogeyed 5 and doubled 7 and parred everything else, unable to make a putt all day.

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay still is stuck on five career top-10s in majors. But he did tie for 12th, which means it's one of his better showings in a major. On Sunday, when he had a real chance to make some noise after a 67-66 in Rounds 2-3, he limped home with a 73.

Jon Rahm
Unlike LIV-mate DeChambeau, at least Rahm made the cut. Barely. After opening with a 78 after being touted so highly coming into the week. Rahm shot a 68 on Sunday to climb the leaderboard a bit, into a tie for 38th. He continues to play poorly in the majors as a member of LIV.

MISSED CUTS

Bryson DeChambeau, Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre, Min Woo Lee, Cameron Smith. There are always big-name missed cuts at the Masters. So they are not entirely a surprise. But DeChambeau's was. He had finished top-6 the past two years at the Masters and had won his past two starts on LIV. That last part doesn't seem to carry much weight, in retrospect. … As for Bhatia, MacIntyre and Lee, all appear ready to take the next step in their careers, which means truly contending in a major, but that obviously wasn't the case this week. … Smith has now become completely irrelevant in majors, missing six straight cuts. He'll still get into all of them for the rest of this year and all of 2027 thanks to his win at the 2022 Open Championship.

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