Augusta, GA – On Sunday, Augusta National Golf Club bore witness to one of the most electrifying final rounds in Masters history, as Rory McIlroy, the 35-year-old Northern Irishman, finally claimed the elusive green jacket and completed the career Grand Slam.

In a finale filled with heart-stopping swings of fortune, McIlroy’s resilience shone through, culminating in a sudden-death playoff victory over Justin Rose that etched his name among golf’s immortals.

Entering the final round with a two-shot lead at 12-under par, McIlroy was poised to end an 11-year major drought and join the exclusive club of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods as the only men to win all four modern majors.

But Augusta, as it so often does, had other plans. The day began with a jolt — a double bogey on the first hole after a wayward drive into a fairway bunker and a three-putt from 20 feet. The lead vanished, and Bryson DeChambeau, the U.S. Open champion, who had bested McIlroy at Pinehurst the previous year, surged ahead.

Undeterred, McIlroy responded with the grit that has defined his career. Back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes, including a pinpoint 7-foot putt on the par-3 fourth, restored his momentum. By the ninth hole, he had rebuilt a four-shot lead, his irons singing and the Augusta crowd roaring. “Rory! Rory! Rory!” echoed through the pines, a testament to the support he’s long commanded. It seemed the coronation was imminent.

But the back nine at Augusta is no place for complacency. McIlroy’s lead unraveled with stunning speed. A bogey on the 11th after a near-miss into the water was followed by a double bogey on the 13th, where a misjudged approach found trouble. Another bogey on the 14th erased his advantage entirely, dropping him into a three-way tie with Rose and Ludvig Aberg at 10-under. The ghosts of past major heartbreaks — 2011’s final-round 80 at Augusta, the missed putts at Pinehurst — loomed large.

“You know, there was points on the back nine today, I thought, you know, have I let this slip again?” McIlroy later admitted wondering.

Yet, this was a different McIlroy, fortified by years of close calls and the guidance of sports psychologist Bob Rotella. On the par-5 15th, he produced a shot for the ages: a towering 6-iron from 208 yards, hooking around trees to land softly on the green, leaving a 6-foot eagle putt. Though it slid by, the tap-in birdie reclaimed the lead. On the 17th, another gem—a 196-yard 8-iron to 3 feet — set up a birdie that pushed him to 12-under, one ahead of Rose, who was charging with a blistering 66.

The 18th hole, however, nearly rewrote the story. McIlroy’s approach found a greenside bunker, and his 5-foot par putt to clinch the title lipped out, forcing a playoff with Rose, who had birdied the 18th with a clutch 20-footer. For Rose, it was a chance at redemption after losing the 2017 Masters playoff to Sergio Garcia. For McIlroy, it was do-or-die.

Returning to the 18th for sudden death, McIlroy unleashed a booming drive and followed with a wedge that danced down the slope to 3 feet — a shot of pure precision under suffocating pressure.

Rose’s approach was stellar, but his 15-foot birdie putt slid by. McIlroy stepped up, rolled in the 3-footer, and collapsed to his knees, overcome with relief and joy.

“Honestly, you know, what came out of me on the last green there in the playoff was, you know, at least 11 years, if not 14 years of pent-up emotion,” he said, tears streaming, referencing his 2011 Masters’ collapse.

“You know, since 2011, I think it’s so ironic, as well. I got to my locker this morning and I opened it up, and there was a note in there from Angel Cabrera, and just wishing me luck.

“And Angel Cabrera was the player I played with on the final day in 2011, it was a nice touch and a little bit ironic at the same time. It’s been 14 long years, but thankfully I got the job done.”

The victory was McIlroy’s fifth major, his first since 2014, and it came with a record: he became the first Masters champion to card four double bogeys, two in the opening round and two on Sunday. His final-round 73 was gritty, not flawless, but it was enough to finish at 11-under 277, tied with Rose, two shots clear of Patrick Reed in third. Scottie Scheffler took fourth at 8-under, while DeChambeau, undone by a 3-over 75, tied for fifth.

In the Butler’s Cabin, as defending champion Scheffler draped the green jacket over his shoulders, McIlroy’s emotions spilled over afterwards. He spoke of his caddie, Harry Diamond, a childhood friend who endured years of scrutiny, saying, “This is as much his as it is mine.” To his daughter Poppy, watching from afar, he said, “Never give up on your dreams.”

At Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland, where McIlroy first swung a club, the celebration was raucous, a community’s pride unleashed.

McIlroy’s journey to this moment was anything but straightforward. Seventeen Masters starts, countless near-misses, and the weight of expectation had tested his resolve. But on this Sunday, he faced down Augusta’s cruelty and his own doubts, delivering a performance that was equal parts chaotic and heroic.

“It was all relief. There wasn’t much joy in that reaction. It was all relief,” said McIlroy. “And then, you know, the joy came pretty soon after that.

“But that was — I’ve been coming here 17 years, and it was a decade-plus of emotion that came out of me there.”

As the patrons chanted his name and the golf world toasted his triumph, Rory McIlroy stood as the 89th Masters champion, the first European to complete the Grand Slam, and a testament to perseverance.

The green jacket, at long last, was won by the Northern Irishman.