It would ultimately prove irrelevant, but, at the time, Rory McIlroy had a rather consequential shot at the par-5 16th on Sunday at Aronimink.

It came after the two-time Masters champ had made a long birdie putt at the 14th to keep his hopes alive, then a par the difficult 15th. Then came the 16th, a prime opportunity to grab another birdie and make one final push. McIlroy blasted a 350-yard drive into the right rough, then hit his second into the greenside rough, but shortsided himself.

He had to get cute with the third, and that’s exactly what he did. Too cute. It came up one yard short, ricocheting into the bunker and effectively ending his chances.

It wasn’t a fan’s fault, but McIlroy did seem to take out his anger on one. In fairness to McIlroy, the fan yelled almost immediately after impact, and McIlroy quickly pointed him out to security.

Here are screenshots of the full ordeal:

McIlroy, impressively, saved par, then went on to par the final two holes to tie for seventh at four under. Even if he had holed this shot for eagle and birdied the last two, he would have lost by one to Aaron Rai, who went scorched earth down the stretch. But at the time, McIlroy was understandably miffed, and he acted accordingly.

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Rory McIlroy had to stop his Tuesday practice round at the PGA Championship after three holes due to a foot issue.

At last week’s Truist Championship, McIlroy, 37, told reporters he was dealing with a blister on the pinky toe of his right foot. “But it’s underneath my nail,” McIlroy said. “So I can’t really get to it. So it’s a little sore, but I’ll be all right.” He said he didn’t have any long-term concerns with the toe.

However, McIlroy was seen limping on the third hole at Aronimink, at one point taking off his shoe. He repeated the move on the fourth tee before halting his practice and deciding to go in. McIlroy was ultimately taken off the course on a golf cart, although appeared to be in good spirits.

Rory is going in after three holes. Limped a bit to the 3rd tee, was sitting in middle of 3rd fairway taking his shoe off, and looks to be calling it a day on the 4th tee box. https://t.co/5VnGcS7wx3

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) May 12, 2026

McIlroy is a two-time PGA champion, and successfully defended his Masters title last month. He finished T-19 at Quail Hollow last week.

McIlroy has an early tee time on Thursday, going off with Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm at 8:40 a.m.

This story will continue to be updated.

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“I can admit when I’m wrong,” McIlroy said Tuesday at the PGA Championship, “and that was one that I did get wrong.”

For the better part of two years, McIlroy was the de facto advocate for the PGA Tour in the absence of public leadership. After commissioner Jay Monahan made a secret agreement with LIV Golf’s financial backers, McIlroy took a step back from the schism; though he still did not believe in the LIV product, he felt with the framework agreement already in place it was better for the sport to move forward. However, after a White House meeting that was supposed to consummate the PGA Tour-PIF deal last spring went sideways, the two sides stopped talking, and with new CEO Brian Rolapp taking over tour operations, the PGA Tour had no appetite to revisit discussions.

At the moment, that appears to be the prudent move, as last month PIF pulled its funding from LIV Golf after haemorrhaging billions and failing to gain traction with the American golf populace. The move has left LIV with an ambiguous future, and as Golf Digest reported, several representatives for LIV players have already reached out to the tour about possibly coming back.

McIlroy was asked his thoughts about the matter at Aronimink, and the back-to-back Masters champ said PIF leaving LIV high and dry was “always a possibility to happen.”

“Look, I think everyone knows like with everything that’s happening in the Middle East, that had a lot to do,” McIlroy said about the Iran War accelerating PIF’s decision, “but whenever you have funding tied so much to the geopolitical landscape in the world, that’s a tricky road to navigate.”

The Ulsterman asserted that, in his estimation, it seemed like most in golf had an idea this could happen. Everyone except LIV players.

“I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen. Like I was hearing about this back in March, April time,” McIlroy said. “Look, I have friends over there. One of my best friends, Ricky [McCormick], caddies for Tom McKibbin, who’s over there, and I would talk to him all the time about what was going on. I was saying to ‘Ricky, even before Mexico, Have you guys heard any of this stuff?’ He was like, ‘No, everything seems OK over here.’

“It just feels like the rug was pulled from under their feet and everyone was sort of blind sided by it. But again, that’s the risk that those guys chose to take. As I said, it leaves, there’s a lot of uncertainty in the air right now.”

After postponing a New Orleans event due to heat and conflicting soccer games with the World Cup, there are only six LIV events left in the season. There are 11 LIV players in this week’s field, highlighted by Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.

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Anirban Lahiri. Doug Defelice/LIV Golf

India’s Anirban Lahiri told The Times of London on Thursday he knows of “at least a dozen players who’d rather not play golf than go back to the PGA Tour.”

Belgian Thomas Pieters said recently he’d retire before going back to the American circuit. And, of course, there’s the case of Bryson DeChambeau, explained expertly today by our Joel Beall.

Rory McIlroy – Ben Jared

For all of them, Rory McIlroy had an unsubtle message after his Friday round in the Truist. The Ulsterman demurred on most questions about LIV and is heartened that some players might return to his “home” DP World Tour. But for those throwing shade on the PGA Tour, McIlroy had this: “If you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be. And if you don’t want to play here, I think that says something about you.”

Mic drop. Press conference over.

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Trump’s Growing Golf Empire in the Middle East

The Northern Irishman attended the prestigious event alongside his wife, Erica Stoll, as guests of U.S. President Donald Trump. The dinner, held in honour of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, brought together political leaders, business figures and a select group of high-profile names, with McIlroy among the standout sporting attendees.

McIlroy’s invitation came just weeks after he successfully defended his Masters title at Augusta National, becoming the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win back-to-back Masters titles. His one-shot victory over world number one Scottie Scheffler marked his sixth major championship.

Despite keeping a relatively low profile since that victory—opting to skip several PGA Tour events, including this week’s Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral… McIlroy could not hide from the spotlight last night.

Massive golden Donald Trump statue appears at Trump Doral ahead of Cadillac Championship

During his address, President Trump paused his speech to acknowledge Rory’s achievement.

‘Stand up, Rory. That was unconquerable courage. That was very good, Rory.’

‘I don’t know if that helps them talk about how wonderful the speech (is) but I had to interrupt my speech because I watched that man win a tournament that was tough. That was a tough one. Congratulations. Very proud of you.

‘Alright, now I’ll get back to my speech, Rory.’

Watch it below.

President Trump praises Masters champion Rory McIlroy in toast at White House state dinner: "That was unconquerable courage. That was very good, Rory." pic.twitter.com/kQGkcLp3Bl

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 29, 2026

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But after a dramatic breakthrough playoff victory a year ago, McIlroy seems to have figured ANGC out, winning again this Sunday and becoming only the fourth golfer to win back-to-back Masters.

With his twin titles, McIlroy now finds himself a significant Masters money milestone: he’s now the leader in all-time earnings at Augusta National having claimed $13.04 million in prize money payouts

Of course it helps that Rory’s won $8.7 million in just the last two years. Even so, he now has jumped past both Phil MIckleson and Tiger Woods, the previous Nos. 1 and 2, on the Masters list.

Here’s McIlroy’s career breakdown at Augusta National:

2009: T-20, $71,400

2010: MC, $10,000

2011: T-15, $128,000

2012: T-14, $32,000

2013: T-25, $56,040

2014: T-8, $234,000

2015: 4, $480,000

2016: T-10, $230,000

2017: T-7, $354,750

2018: T-5, $386,375

2019: T-21, $107,956

2020: T-5, $437,000

2021: MC, $10,000

2022: 2, $1,620,000

2023: MC, $10,000

2024: T-22, $175,500

2025: Win, $4,200,000

2026: Win, $4,500,000

Meanwhile, here is the top 10 in all-time earnings. Not only did McIlroy jump Mickelson and Woods, but so did Scottie Scheffler with his second-place finish, worth $2.43 million:

Masters career money leaders

1: Rory McIlroy $13,042,646 (18 starts)

2: Scottie Scheffler, $10,475,325 (7)

3: Phil Mickelson $9,870,317 (32)

4: Tiger Woods $9,642,636 (26)

5: Justin Rose $7,766,765 (21)

6: Jordan Spieth $6,794,328 (13)

7: Patrick Reed $5,888,351 (13)

8: Jon Rahm, $5,557,467 (10)

9: Dustin Johnson $4,788,735 (16)

10: Bubba Watson $4,497,230 (18)

McIlroy’s $4.5 million payday also elevates his all-time PGA Tour earnings to $114,696,641. That leaves him second only to Tiger Woods ($120,999,166), who McIlroy now only trails a little more than $6 million. Given the prize money payouts on the PGA Tour, McIlroy has a good shot of taking over as the all-time money leader on the PGA Tour some time this summer.

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After a shaky start to Sunday’s final round, McIlroy rebounded, knocking his approach shot tight at No. 7 and following it up with a sweeping 6-iron into the par-5 eighth that led to a pair of much-needed birdies to steady things after losing the lead he shared at the start of the round.

Perhaps more important was a gutsy 9-iron tee shot at the 155-yard, par-3 12th that finished seven feet from the hole, leading to another birdie on a hole where many are just trying to stay dry. That was followed by a 350-yard bomb off the tee on the par-5 13th that fueled another birdie.

“The tee shot on 12 and the one on 13 were the key shots,” McIlroy said in his interview in Butler Cabin.

The two-time Masters champion uses a split set of TaylorMade irons, utilising a P760 4-iron and Rors prototype muscleback-blade irons along with the company’s Milled Grind 5 wedges. The irons have Project X 7.0 steel shafts while the wedges are Project X 6.5.

Although he was sketchy with his TaylorMade Qi4D driver with a Fujikura Ventus Black 6X shaft, McIlroy used the club as an effective weapon in birdieing Nos. 7, 8 and 13. He also led the field in driving distance at 334 yards per measured drive—five yards longer than the next nearest competitor.

On the greens, McIlroy wielded a TaylorMade Spider Tour X X3 mallet. The putter is 34.5 inches in length with 3 degrees of loft and a short slant hosel. It also features TaylorMade’s “True Roll” insert and a SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip.

The clubs Rory McIlroy used to win the 2026 Masters

Ball: TaylorMade TP5

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (Fujikura Ventus Black 6X), 9 degrees

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D, 15 degrees

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10, 18 degrees

Irons (4): TaylorMade P760; (5-9): TaylorMade Rors prototype

Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind 5 (46, 50, 54, 60 degrees)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X X3

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The defending Masters champion who collected the last leg of the career Grand Slam last year built a whopping, record six-shot lead at the midway point Friday, only to cough it all up via a Saturday 73. On Sunday, playing in the final pairing with Players champion Cameron Young, McIlroy found himself three off the lead early after a three-putt double bogey from nine feet on the fourth hole.

Then, one-by-one, others faltered—Young, Justin Rose, Russell Henley—just as McIlroy rediscovered the form that won him a green jacket a year ago, the same form that created the huge lead two days prior. After birdies at 7, 8, 12 and 13, suddenly McIlroy had amassed a three-shot lead again and was on his way to defending his title by shooting a final-round 71 for a 12-under 276 total. Birdie on the famed par-3 12th came from seven feet and an up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 13th helped seal the deal.

But first, there was one last bit of drama when McIlroy blew his tee shot on the home hole way right, just to the right of the 10th fairway. He found the front, left bunker with his second shot, blasted out and two-putted for bogey and a one-shot victory over a hard-charging Scottie Scheffler. Henley, Rose, Young and Tyrrell Hatton tied for third place, two shots back.

McIlroy, 36, joins Jack Nicklaus (1965, ’66), Nick Faldo (1989, ’90) and Tiger Woods (2001, ’02) as the only players to win back-to-back green jackets. It was his sixth major title, joining Faldo as Europeans with the most.

Holywood has its sequel. #themasters pic.twitter.com/L7N9el2aC3

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2026

“I can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and now I get two in a row,” McIlroy said from Butler Cabin. “I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off. It was a tough weekend. I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday. But just so, so happy to hang in there and get the job done.”

This was just another classic Sunday on these hallowed Georgia grounds, a place that rarely disappoints.

At one point three different men held at least a two-shot lead. Rose, leading on the back nine, looked like he was going to capture his first Masters title after three runner-up finishes but bogeyed the 11th and 12th holes and three-putted the par-5 13th for par. Henley opened with 73, then went scorched earth the next three days and got into the mix. Young was under par after five holes, looking to join Scheffler and McIlroy as winners of both the Players and Masters the last two years. But he bogeyed three of the next four holes and never again found his rhythm. Hatton, playing well ahead of the leaders, birdied 13 through 16 to get to double digits under par. And Scheffler, 12 behind McIlroy after Round 2 surged with two late birdies and had the patrons worked into a lather. Bogey-free rounds of 65-68 over the weekend earned him solo second place although he’ll likely have difficulty digesting this performance because he played the par 5s poorly most of the week.

“Overall, over the weekend I put up a good fight, did a lot of good stuff in order to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said. “Ultimately came up a shot short.”

In the end, the week was all about the man from Northern Ireland, just as this week was last year. He arrived at Augusta National having not played competitively in three weeks, but said his preparation was as good as it’s ever been, having felt like he played here enough to make him feel completely comfortable. He hosted the Champions Dinner on Tuesday, saying “it’s been an amazing 12 months.” He shot 67-65 the first two days to build the record lead and many were wondering if the weekend would prove boring.

Not a chance.

McIlroy sputtered in his third-round 73, especially on the back nine when he made double-bogey 6 on the 11th hole and followed it with bogey on the 12th hole. Bogey on 17 still kept him in Sunday’s final group but he was tied with Young and only slightly ahead of a handful of men who were hungry. But history still indicated that the champion would come from that last pairing, just as it has in 30 of the last 35 Masters.

It didn’t appear like history would hold early on Sunday, but McIlroy plugged away, dug deep and walked off the 18th hole Sunday into the arms of his adoring family—wife Erica, daughter Poppy and parents Rosie and Gerry. Moments later, his arms slipped into the green jacket again, just as they had been much of the last 52 weeks.

“There was a piece of them that didn’t want to come this year because they thought, OK, we didn’t come last year, maybe that was the reason,” McIlroy said about his parents. “But I’m so glad that they got to experience this today. We’re all going to have a great time tonight.”

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Few have come on the scene as spectacularly as the 18-year-old amateur who holed out from 50 yards on the 72nd hole of the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale to tie for fourth place.

And while few have then debuted as a professional as miserably as Rose’s very public missing of 21 straight cuts, the debacle led to a painstaking recovery of confidence that evolved into one of the greatest career turnarounds the modern game has ever seen. Since 2010, Rose has 13 PGA Tour victories, a major championship and an Olympic gold medal, putting him on cusp of induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

And now, finally, few have aged as well as the still blooming Rose.

On Friday, the 45-year-old Englishman shot a three-under 69 to once again put himself on the leaderboard at the Masters with a score of five-under-par 139. Although he’s a distant seven behind the leader, Rory McIlroy, he’s just a stroke behind Patrick Reed and Sam Burns in a share of fourth.

Of course, it was McIlroy who bested Rose with a birdie on the first hole of sudden death at last year’s Masters, marking the second time Rose lost at Augusta National in a playoff and the third time he finished second.

Rose led that tournament by one after 36 holes, but after taking 38 putts in a 75 on Saturday, he’d trailed McIlroy by, yes, seven shots. Then on Sunday, Rose shot 66, capped by a rammed-home 20-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to nearly pull off a miracle win. This year he has two rounds to make up that same margin.

Rose’s only reward from the 2025 tournament was a collective thank you from all the fans who wanted to see McIlroy finally win the career Grand Slam. But that lack of sympathy, from mortals and possibly also the golf gods, does not haunt Rose.

He made that clear early in the week, telling the media on Monday that he isn’t haunted or feels the Masters owes him anything.

“I’m very aware that I’ve had tough, tough losses here,” he said. “I also am aware that I enjoy this place.

“I don’t feel like I have to find something in myself to kind of do something different. I truly believe that. If you’re going to be willing to win them, you’ve got to be willing to kind of be on the wrong side of it as well.”

Rose’s round on Friday was highlighted by three straight birdies on ninth, 10th and 11th holes, a daunting stretch of par 4s more demanding against par than the famed triumvirate that makes up Amen Corner.

With a driver clubhead speed of 117.7 mph (right at the PGA Tour average), Rose was pumping out drives in excess of 300 yards on the dry and fast Augusta National fairways that left him approaches of 9-iron, 9-iron and 7-iron on his birdie run.

Rose bemoaned missing several putts inside 10 feet, especially an uphill right-to-left four footer for birdie on the 14th—that he described as “it’s like ugh.” There’s no doubt, though, Rose’s length off the tee is another indicator that he remains able to retain level remarkably close to that which won him the U.S. Open in 2013 and got him to World No. 1 for 13 weeks beginning in 2018.

Long respected for having a well-rounded skill set, Rose was asked after his second round if there are any parts of his game that he has gotten better at in his 40s.

“Am I better than World No. 1 me? I don’t know,” he said. “I feel I’m holding steady in some areas for sure. I feel good where I’m at. That’s all I know. I feel I can still chip away at certain things. I’ve still got tons of improvement. I feel like the bit that keeps me going is I do believe that next week I can be better than this week. Whether I am or not, who knows.”

If he wins on Sunday, he’ll have a better idea.

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He was the man in royal blue marching across the emerald green. A march that only looks like that when you know it belongs to you, and that you’ll get to make it again for the rest of your life. Only three players have defended the Masters. McIlroy’s attempt to become the fourth received an auspicious start Thursday, a 67 putting him in a share of the opening-round lead.

“Great start to the week obviously. Felt like I got a lot out of my round today,” McIlroy said. “It started pretty scrappy. I was hitting out of the trees a little bit the first seven holes and then started to string some good swings together from the eighth hole onwards.”

In spite of the tributes and documentaries and look-backs to a triumph that still feels very present, McIlroy the competitor went somewhat under the radar entering the week. His post-Masters victory lap went sideways at times. A back injury surfaced just a month ago. He carried so many non-playing obligations in the lead-up that the tournament itself felt like it might be getting shortchanged. The expectation, whispered if not spoken aloud, was that he would be happy just to be here, that the questions asked of him for so long had been answered and that was enough.

The beautiful thing about sport is the score is not dictated by narrative.

He was patient Thursday, understanding that survival is the only real objective on the opening day at Augusta. No small feat when you’re finding just five of 14 fairways. But he stayed steady, trusting the course would eventually offer what he needed, and it did. Birdies at the eighth and ninth. Then three consecutive red figures starting at 13. As serene a round as Augusta allows.

J.D. Cuban

“I still have high expectations of myself, but my expectations are more ‘Did I make good decisions today? Was I committed? Was I trusting?’” McIlroy explained. “I think it took me a while to get to that point where, if I focus on the process and the little mini goals of not compounding errors, like today, hitting it in trees and trying to be a hero, making good decisions, thinking my way around the golf course, I think those are the expectations I have for myself. And if I can live up to those expectations, then the scores and the results should take care of itself.

“So I guess that’s a long-winded way of saying not really focusing on the outcome, but focusing on all the little things you have to do to hopefully have that outcome take care of itself.”

It was his second-lowest opening round here, only bested by a 65 in 2011, the tournament that was supposed to be his coronation and instead became the first installment of 15 years of Augusta anguish. It would be foolish to extrapolate too much from 18 holes, with 54 remaining and conditions threatening to turn mean over the weekend. The leaderboard is formidable, Scottie Scheffler’s name already near the top. And McIlroy’s ballstriking was ordinary at best, his putter doing the rescue work. But that is its own kind of endorsement, converting a B-minus ball-striking day into an A-plus score. That’s a great player’s trick. Not everyone has it.

It was also un-Rory-like, in the best sense. The McIlroy we know, the one that makes all of his moves worth watching, is the one who plays a different game than everyone else, conjuring shots the rest of us dream about while quietly praying he won’t try them. The thrill and the terror sharing the same swing. Thursday had none of that. What it had instead was a player utterly unbothered, going about his business with the certainty of someone who has already survived the worst this place can do. Last year settled the existential question. Augusta could not break him. What remains now isn’t about proving anything. It’s about finishing what he started.

“I said this when I came in on Tuesday, I think winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one. I do,” McIlroy said. “It’s hard to say because there’s still shots out there that you feel a little bit tight with, and you just have to stand up and commit to making a good swing and not worry about really where it goes.

“I think it’s easier for me to make those swings and not worry about where it goes when I know that I can go to the Champions Locker Room and put my green jacket on and have a Coke Zero at the end of the day.”

That should terrify the rest of the field. What held McIlroy back was the ghost of what almost was. That fight is over. What’s left is everyone else’s problem.

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