What Rory McIlroy became the first ever Masters winner to do during the 2026 tournament

A 71 on Sunday was enough to get the job done for McIlroy. With that, Justin Ray has revealed on X what the Northern Irishman became the first ever Masters champion to do.

He posted: ‘Another wild ride: Rory is the first Masters champion in history to lose strokes to the field over the last 36 holes.‘

Where Rory McIlroy lost strokes to the field over the weekend at Augusta National

Incredibly, McIlroy lost 3.97 shots with his approach play on Saturday at The Masters, according to Data Golf. Of the players who made the cut, only Keegan Bradley performed worse in that particular category during the third round.

Meanwhile, McIlroy’s biggest issues on Sunday came with the putter in his hands. He lost 1.35 strokes to the field on the greens during the last round.

Ultimately, McIlroy was not able to relax heading up the 72nd hole like he would have obviously hoped to. His shocking drive on the 18th left him with plenty of work to do to ensure that he did not end up in a playoff with Scheffler.

But this week seemed to provide much more of a glimpse of what everyone can expect from McIlroy in the majors to come.

He was flawed, but he made sure that he did enough to get across the line and further cement his legacy as one of the greatest of all-time.