The fourth and final round of the 89th Masters Tournament came to a close Sunday, with Rory McIlroy coming out on top after a playoff.
Seven LIV golfers — Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Joaquin Niemann, Jon Rahm and Charl Schwartzel — remained in contention after the cut was set at 2-over after the first two rounds.
DeChambeau entered Sunday in second place, but he struggled in his fourth round. He shot 3-over par and dropped to a fifth-place finish. Reed finished 3-under on Sunday and jolted up to third place. Hatton shot 1-over par and finished tied for 14th place, which was the same finishing spot as Watson, who had his best round on Sunday at 4-under.
McIlroy and DeChambeau traded leads early on after the Irishman double-bogeyed on the first hold. He recaptured a 3-shot lead after hitting for birdie on the 10th hole, while DeChambeau double-bogeyed on the 11th.
McIlroy let Justin Rose back into the competition after hitting a double bogey on No. 13 and missed a putt on No. 18 that would have won it. He and Rose went to a playoff and McIlroy birdied the first hole to win it.
Here are the highlights from the LIV golfers in the final round at Augusta National.
Final round results
1. Rory McIlroy (-11)
T1. Justin Rose (-11)
3. Patrick Reed (-9)
4. Scottie Scheffler (-8)
T5. Sungjae Im (-7)
T5. Bryson DeChambeau (-7)
7. Ludvig Åberg (-6)
Good start for DeChambeau, strong Round 4 for Reed
The day belonged to McIlroy, but Reed had an overall impressive Sunday, while DeChambeau held the lead early after hitting for birdie on the second hole.
Reed remained consistent during Sunday’s final round. He had four consecutive birdies to finish out the front 9, and hit for eagle on the 17th hole to secure a solo third-place finish.
DeChambeau couldn’t hit his irons where he was looking and couldn’t keep pace with the leaders. He fell behind McIlroy as quickly as he jumped in front on Sunday, and a double bogey on the par-4 11th pretty much ended his chances. He finished four shots behind McIlroy and Rose, who went to a sudden-death playoff that McIlroy won with a birdie.
“If I just had somewhat of good iron play this week,” DeChambeau said, “it would have been a lot different outcome.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the noted gearhead — who pioneered the use of single-length irons — already was excited talking about tweaking his equipment before he tries again to win a third major championship.
“It just wasn’t tight, wasn’t dialed in. I kept hitting the heel,” DeChambeau said. “We got some irons in that’s got some more weight on the toe, which helps dramatically. But we haven’t got the front edge just right yet.
“I can’t wait. You’re going to see some new equipment here very, very soon, which hopefully will optimize my game to an even greater level. Super excited about it, actually.”
The two-time U.S. Open champion, LIV Golf team captain and YouTube star closed with a 3-over 75 on Sunday to follow three straight rounds in the 60s. After he holed a putt from about 40 feet from off the green on the par-4 18th on Saturday, he entered the final round in prime position to break McIlroy’s heart — like he did last June in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
DeChambeau’s first mistake had nothing to do with his gear. Instead, the changing conditions at Augusta National got to him. He three-putted from 23 feet at the short par-4 third hole, and hours later, he still wasn’t sure how he did it.
“What’s crazy is the third hole, hit it up there to 20 feet, I’m like, ‘OK that’s exactly the way I wanted to play the hole,’ and that putt, I’ve never seen a putt faster than that,’ he said. “Those greens got really fast. The agronomists here at Augusta National and the Masters, they know how to play complete tricks on you.
“I just didn’t realize how firm and fast it could get out here. It’s great experience. Won’t let that happen again.”
A poor iron shot that missed long and left on the par-3 fourth hole led to another bogey. Then came another shot that curved way too much on the par-4 11th and found the pond short of the green for a double bogey.
“I just tried to hit a draw in there and it started five degrees left and I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” DeChambeau said. “Then I did the same thing on 17 out of the pine straw. Just went dead left on me. Got to get better.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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