McIlroy finishes strong at 12-under for career-best Masters

His score could have been enough to secure the career Grand Slam in many other years. Instead, Rory McIlroy will have to settle for a career-best 12-under, fourth-place finish at the Masters.

After he made the turn Friday, McIlroy shot 15-under. For the tournament, his 12-under score would have been enough the previous three years to win the green jacket.

He shot 6-under 66 Sunday.

“I wish I would have finished off a little bit better. But, yeah, happy with how I played over the last couple of days,” McIlroy said. “So, happy with how I finished, just obviously left myself with a bit too much to
do after 27 holes of this tournament, and that’s what really cost me.”

Though McIlroy was 10 shots back of Jordan Spieth entering Sunday, he still had a chance to post his best Masters finish.

Rory was 6-under as late as the sixth hole before he played the final 12 holes in 6-under.

Entering the week, McIlroy had never played a Masters without at least one over-par round. He changed that this week.

His previous best finish was a tie for eighth in 2014 and a 4-under score in 2011. He crushed those marks this year as five players finished at 11-under or better.

The world’s top-ranked player has now completed six consecutive under-par rounds at Augusta National Golf Club.

McIlroy played Sunday with Tiger Woods, a superstar pairing that just happened to be in the third-to-last group. They started Sunday both 6-under and tied for fifth before McIlroy surged to close.

He birdied half of the final 12 holes to get his best Masters finish in his seventh start.

“I prepared really, really well for this tournament. I came in feeling good,” McIlroy said. “I got it in red numbers. Just the start on Friday was really what killed me. But as you’ve seen over the last 45 holes, again, there I’m playing very nicely. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”