The first major of the year is in the books and it was an instant classic! Rory McIlroy, after an 11 year drought since his last major victory, was finally able to complete his career grand slam (winning each major at least once) after holding off a furious comeback from Justin Rose in a playoff.
Round 1: Rory jumped out to a hot start but fell apart halfway through the first round and ended up 7 strokes back of the lead – leaving most to believe he would once again miss out on the green jacket. Right behind him was 25 year old Ludvig Aberg, Corey Conners, and of course, Scottie Scheffler, with Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton a stroke behind them.
Round 2: Bryson continued his great play as he jumped to second place at the end of round 2 (even though the coverage was hardly showing his shots), trailing only Justin Rose. Corey Conners continued to quietly stay in the top 5, with Rory bouncing back, Shane Lowry climbing up, and Jason Day surprising some people with back to back 70s.
Round 3: Rory continued to stay hot shooting another 66 and taking a 2 stroke lead into Sunday while Bryson stayed on his heels with a fantastic birdie on 18. Conners, Aberg, and Patrick Reed rounded out the top 5 as a stacked leaderboard was set for the last day of the tournament.
Final Round: This was the craziest round by far. Rory double bogeyed the first hole and Bryson took the lead after 2. Rory would reclaim the lead on the very next hole and then build up a 5 stroke lead by hole 10! Yes a 5 stroke lead…all to come crashing down starting after he put one in the water on 13th. As Rory showed signs of struggle, the tourney was up for grabs. Scottie was only 2 strokes back, Aberg and Rose down 1, while Bryson fell down to -7 and was essentially out of the running. It all came down to hole 18 when Justin Rose makes a long birdie putt and Rory misses what looked to be an easy par putt (brining back thoughts of his U.S. Open meltdown costing him victory last year). Now on the first playoff hole, Rose would hit a great second shot leading to a good look for birdie with Rory hitting an even better shot leaving his birdie putt about 4 feet out. After Rose narrowly misses his putt and taps in for par, it call came down to Rory’s 4 foot birdie putt which he would make to claim his first Masters victory and complete his career grand slam.
A truly fantastic tournament and a great way to kick of the 2025 major season! We have a lot of great golf coming up, with eyes starting to focus in on the 2nd major of the year next month in Charlotte NC for the PGA Championship.
2 OFF THE TEE 