Rory McIlroy wins Masters playoff to complete the career Grand Slam
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Rory McIlroy turned another major collapse into his grandest performance of all, hitting a wedge into 4 feet for birdie in a sudden-death playoff Sunday to finally win the Masters and take his place in golf history as the sixth player to claim the career Grand Slam.
What should have been a coronation along the back nine at Augusta National turned into a heart-racing, lead-changing jaw-dropping finish at golf’s greatest theater that ended with McIlroy on his knees sobbing with joy and disbelief.
He lost a two-shot lead in two shots at the start. He lost a four-shot lead on the back nine in a matter of three holes with shocking misses, one of them a wedge into the tributary of Rae’s Creek on the par-5 13th.
And right when it looked as though he would blow another major, he delivered two majestic shots when nothing less would do.
