It wasn’t the best of finishes for the Canadian pair who found the weekend at Augusta National, but it was as dramatic an ending as you could ask for at the Masters – and in the end, an incredible champion was crowned.

Again.

Rory McIlroy successfully defended his title from 2025, topping a hard-charging Scottie Scheffler by one shot. This was just the third major championship since 1986 that the top-two finishers at a major were the first and second-ranked players in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Scheffler – who was 12 shots back of the lead when he teed off Saturday morning – shot a final round 4-under 68 and was so-very-close to tying McIlroy on more than one occasion.

On Sunday at Augusta National there were four people who either had the lead or were tied for the lead at one point. At another point through the finale, McIlroy actually found himself three shots back of the lead.

Although McIlroy opened with a birdie on 3, he gave it all back with a double bogey on the par-3 4th. He started rallying with birdies on 7 and 8 and said Sunday night if he hadn’t made those birdies he likely would have started to “press” – never a good thing at Augusta National.

After making the turn, McIlroy hit an incredible three-quarter 9-iron to just a few feet on the iconic par-3 12th and made the birdie. McIlroy would say later that his Sunday shot on 12 actually forced him to recall a practice round he played – 16 years ago. In 2009 Tom Watson, who is now an honorary starter at the Masters, told McIlroy to just wait until the wind is doing what you think it should be doing and then hit as fast as you can. That little piece of advice worked like a charm.

“That was a really good golf shot at the right time and probably a golf shot I wouldn't have been able to hit (Saturday) if I didn't go to the range and try to figure a few things out and try to neutralize the ball flight a little bit,” McIlroy said, pointing to his post third-round effort after his 1-over 73 in the third round and where he coughed up a six-shot lead. “Absolutely huge, huge shot in the tournament.”

McIlroy would make another birdie on 13 before arriving on the tee on 18 with a two-shot lead. He would need all of that lead after blowing his tee shot way right. The good news is that it was so far right that he actually had a shot. McIlroy then curled in his approach to the front green-side bunker and got up-and-down for bogey. History.

“I don't make it easy. I used to make it easy back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots. No, it's just it's hard. It's hard to win golf tournaments. Yeah, especially around here,” McIlroy said.

With the win, McIlroy became the first golfer in a quarter-of-a-century to successfully go back-to-back at the Masters (Tiger Woods did it in 2001-02) and he pushed his major-championship total to six. That ties him with Nick Faldo for the most major titles by a European. He’s also chasing titans of the sport now. Every other golfer in McIlroy’s post-Tiger Woods generation is chasing McIlroy. The 2026 Masters champion, if he gets to seven majors, will tie the likes of Bobby Jones and Arnold Palmer.

Almost unfathomable, isn’t it? McIlroy turns 37 in a few weeks and went 10 full seasons on the PGA Tour between major wins. The guy has been so good for so long and shows no signs of slowing down.

“It took me 10 years to win my fifth major, and then my sixth one's come pretty soon after it. I'm not putting a number on it,” McIlroy said when asked, generally, if he is wondering what’s next. “But I certainly don’t want to stop here.”

The Canadian contingent are awfully familiar with McIlroy’s game but have yet to find themselves in the arena with him at a major. They’ll have to wait until the PGA Championship as both Corey Conners and Nick Taylor struggled in the final round at Augusta National. Conners finished tied for 49th and Taylor finished tied for 41st. Taylor was trending towards his best-career major finish before a Sunday stumble.

“It's always hard when you finish poorly on a Sunday to kind of take the positives for the week, but I'll take a day or two and keep working on what I'm doing,” Taylor said. “There was obviously a lot of great golf this week; today just wasn't it.”

Conners dunked his approach on the par-4 14th for an eagle and earned a set of crystal glasses from Augusta National for his trouble.

“It was a frustrating week. I feel like my game is close to being where I want. Just wasn't able to put the scores together,” Conners said. “The course is playing a little bit tricky and just wasn't able to do what I wanted to do out there.”