The 89th Masters Championship in Augusta wrapped up on Sunday and golf fans could not have asked for a better show.
Going into the fourth round, Rory McIlroy held the lead at 12-under, paired with Dallas resident Bryson DeChambeau at 10-under. And what a roller coaster of a last round.
Ultimately, Rory got the job done in a playoff against Justin Rose, becoming only the sixth player in history to complete the career Grand Slam in golf – meaning he’s won all four major championships in his career, with Tiger Woods being the last player to accomplish the feat back in 2000.
Kevin Robbins, a journalist based in Austin who writes for PGAtour.com, joined the Standard with a recap. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: We talked about a favorite to win the tournament last time, Texan Scottie Scheffler. How’d he end up doing?
Kevin Robbins: He placed fourth. He had a good round, and I think he got 69 yesterday. Never really had a realistic chance, but he was present and accounted for.
I’m holding off on talking about the main event here, but I gotta ask, how did the other Texans in the field do from what you can tell?
Jordan Spieth had a good round, I believe he shot 69, moved up the board a little bit. Bryson DeChambeau, he finished pretty far down, I believed fifth.
Patrick Reed, who is actually from Augusta, Ga., but now lives in Houston, made a really strong showing. He was a factor yesterday – he finished in the top 10.
So the Texans showed up. They played this course well and they made their presence known.
Well you raised Bryson DeChambeau’s name. First few holes of the fourth round seemed to get off to a rocky start for Rory McIlroy. Seemed like Bryson might take the lead there, but he kind of fell apart.
You’re right. He started strongly, made a quality par on the long par 4 first hole. He birdied hole number 2, which is what most of the field wanted to do on Sunday.
And then he just kind of fell apart, starting with hole number 3, a short par 4, normally right in a guy like his’ wheelhouse. He made a kind of a sloppy bogey there.
He would factor again, just because so many people did, given Rory’s beautifully erratic play. This leaderboard, at one point midway through the round yesterday, reflected the most exciting, dynamic golfers in the world. And Bryson was one of those.
Let’s talk about what happened there with Rory. It looked like he had a putt he needed to make, but he couldn’t. And that sent us into a playoff at the Masters.
I think that’s what? The first since 2017?
You’re right.
Sergio Garcia, lives here in Austin, beat Justin Rose, the player who Rory beat this year. Tell us a little bit about the significance of having a playoff there at the Masters.
It had to happen. We deserved it. The players deserved it. The world deserved it.
It was unfortunate that Rory sort of backed into that playoff after making one of the most heroic shots we’ve ever seen at the Masters on the 17th hole where he made birdie. So he had a one-shot lead playing the 18th. He had a short club in.
And, you know, as he does sometimes, he had a poor wedge, put it in the bunker on the right. He couldn’t get up and down. He had a five-footer to win this tournament, to secure the Grand Slam. It just drifted off a little low.
I mean, it was such a best of times, worst of times day for Rory and that was one of the worst of the times. But he came back in the playoff and he had almost the same shot into the green. And this time, he put it right on the flagstick.
I mean, I don’t know, you just couldn’t draw it up any better.
Well, it’s incredible because the narrative for the past decade or more has been, “will Rory get this career Grand Slam,” right? Now that he’s done it, what’s the narrative going to be next Masters?
That, curiously, is how Rory opened his press conference yesterday after winning. He looked at the reporters and he said, “what are we going to talk about next year?”
I mean, deservedly so. There were times where Rory McIlroy looked like his major championships were finished. And yesterday, he looked like he could win five more, maybe 10. He’s only 35 years old. He’s fit. And it’s possible he could he could run the table now.
I mean, I believe just emotionally and mentally getting through this this challenge could mean so much to him. He’s a great champion, he’s a good person. He’s the face of the PGA Tour. He resisted going to LIV Golf.
I mean, a lot of people wanted to see him get this done yesterday and he got it done.
