Rory McIlroy wins Masters to become fourth back-to-back champion

Rory McIlroy wins Masters to become fourth back-to-back championThe Northern Irishman becomes the first player to repeat at Augusta National since Tiger Woods back in 2001-2002.Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods, and now, Rory McIlroy.The Northern ‌Irishman emerged from a tight pack of contenders to win the 90th Masters Tournament on Sunday, joining the trio of golf icons as the only players in history ⁠to conquer Augusta National in back-to-back years.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Man City rout Chelsea 3-0 to close gap on Premier League leaders Arsenallist 2 of 4Iran will play World Cup games in the US, not Mexico: President Sheinbaumlist 3 of 4Union Berlin’s Marie-Louise Eta becomes first female manager of men’s teamlist 4 of 4Teen sprint star Gout powers to 200m win in 19.67 secondsend of listMcIlroy ⁠said earlier this week that winning one Masters would make it easier to win a second, and he dug deep into that belief on Sunday to rally from a three-shot deficit on the front nine to post a one-under-par round of 71 for the winning score of 12-under 276 – one better ⁠than Scottie Scheffler.“I can’t believe that I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and I get two in a row,” McIlroy told CBS in Butler Cabin. “I think that all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off.”McIlroy’s sixth career major also tied him with Faldo for the most by a European player in the modern era, and they are tied for 12th-most all-time by any player.Cameron Young, Russell Henley, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose finished another shot back at 10 under.McIlroy putts on the 18th hole to win The Masters [Mike Segar/Reuters]McIlroy ralliesMcIlroy began the final round tied for the 54-hole lead at 11 under with Young, who birdied the second hole to reach 12 under and take the outright lead. It appeared that McIlroy’s repeat quest might unravel when he went three over on the two par-threes on the front nine to fall to 9 under for the tournament.Suddenly, McIlroy’s name was looking up on the leaderboard at Young and Rose, who reached 12 under with ‌four birdies in a five-hole stretch through No 9. Scheffler was also making a run several holes ahead, and Henley reached 10 under through eight holes.