The Masters: Rory McIlroy defeats Justin Rose in playoff for his green jacket, completes grand slam
Rory McIlroy is a Masters champion — finally — after one more perfect iron shot on a Sunday that no one who witnessed it will soon forget.
McIlroy hit a gap wedge from 126 yards to 4 feet on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Justin Rose, who hit his own fine approach to the par-4 18th. But Rose missed from 15 feet and McIlroy holed out for birdie and the long-awaited victory. He collapsed to the ground and let out a joyous roar before hugging his caddie, Harry Diamond.
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McIlroy becomes the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam by winning all four of golf's major championships. The last was Tiger Woods when he won the British Open at St. Andrews in 2000.
The 35-year-old McIlroy won his first Masters in his 17th attempt and became the first player since Arnold Palmer came up with the idea of a modern Grand Slam to finish it off by winning at Augusta National.
McIlroy had been trying for a decade for the Grand Slam and his fifth major title overall. His last was at the 2014 PGA Championship.
Channel 2 Action News will have reaction to the exciting playoff finish, TONIGHT on SportsZone Sunday.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Good attitude vital at Oakmont say Thomas and Schauffele
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NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
'Maybe I'm just sick': Xander Schauffele loves a major challenge like Oakmont
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Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
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Xander Schauffele is a sick man when it comes to golf's toughest test. He loves the US Open
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The Stimpmeter was developed after the inventor read about Gene Sarazen hitting a putt into a bunker at Oakmont. Schauffele still hasn't figured out the winning part of it, at least not at the U.S. Open. Despite his top 10s, he has yet to seriously challenge in the final hour. This year presents a different test for the 31-year-old Californian, who broke through last year in the biggest events by winning the PGA Championship and the British Open . He is still trying to find his groove after missing two months with a rib injury that significantly slowed the start of his season. That was a serious challenge — sitting at home, resting, doing next to nothing. 'I felt like I was playing at a pretty high level. Then I got hurt,' he said. 'My expectations of what I knew I could do to where I was were different. And accepting that was tough. I think that was sort of the biggest wake-up call for me coming back.' So a U.S. Open at Oakmont — fun, he calls it — might be a good measure of where he is. Most of the 156 players, and even a few alternates, made their way out to the course on a relatively dry day that should stay that way at least until the weekend. Justin Thomas was among those who came to Oakmont a few weeks ago to get in some serious study, knowing practice rounds can be the biggest grind because they take so long. Everyone is trying to figure out what to do from the rough, where to miss, how to avoid mistakes. Dustin Johnson played nine holes, his first time back at Oakmont since he won his first major nine years ago . He played the final seven holes not knowing if the USGA was going to penalize him for his golf ball moving on the fifth green. That's some serious mental toughness. There have been a few changes, including even fewer trees. 'The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder,' Johnson said. The USGA likes to test every part of the game, and that includes the mental side of it. Jack Nicklaus, a four-time U.S. Open champion, said he used to listen to players complain in the days leading up to the Open and figure he could rule them out. 'I hope it psyches a lot of players out,' Thomas said. 'I understand this place is hard. I don't need to read articles, or I don't need to hear horror stories. I've played it. I know it's difficult. I also have faith that if I go play well and I'm driving the ball well and I'm hitting my irons like I know I can, I'm going to have a lot of birdie opportunities.' Thomas also mentioned the need to have a good attitude. The definition is different for each player. For him, it's being committed over every shot on every hole and accepting the outcome. 'I think once I start second-guessing myself or not trusting my instincts is kind of where I get myself in trouble,' Thomas said. 'Then when I do that, I naturally am pretty pissed off if it doesn't work out. It wasn't because of the shot, it was more from the lack of commitment. That's where it starts for me generally.' With Schauffele, it can be hard to tell when he loses his cool. And he's not a big believer that anyone throwing a club is costing himself shots. Tiger Woods, who won the U.S. Open three times, was among the best at putting any anger behind him before he settled over his next shot. 'I think I look pretty level-headed when I play, but internally I might be absolutely just thrashing myself,' Schauffele said. 'I think truly having a good attitude is just sort of accepting what happened and allowing yourself to be pretty much at zero to hit the next shot.' It's not just the U.S. Open where Schauffele has shown remarkable consistency. He rallied down the stretch at Quail Hollow to make the cut, and his cut streak is at 65 tournaments going into Oakmont. That's the longest streak since Woods made 142 cuts in a row that ended in 2005. He has game, clearly. And he has the right head for the U.S. Open. 'Part of my attitude thing is we're all playing the same course, and it's going to be hard,' he said. 'You may think something's unfair, but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Whoever can deal with it the best is going to play well. That's the attitude I've had — look at it as a fun challenge versus feeling like you're living in a nightmare.' ___ AP golf:
