Rory McIlroy is now a two-time Masters champion after his thrilling victory at Augusta National on Sunday.
McIlroy certainly played with more freedom on the back nine at The Masters than he had in previous years.
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The 36-year-old finally got his hands on a green jacket 12 months ago and incredibly, he now has two to his name.
Sunday at The Masters is one of the best and most exciting days in all of sport and McIlroy was tied for the lead at Augusta National heading into the final 18 holes.
However, he made a really poor start to his final round, and was two-over par after six holes.
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He looked completely out of sync once again, while Cameron Young appeared far more in control early on.
McIlroy beat balls on the driving range after round three of The Masters, so he was clearly unhappy about something.
Rory McIlroy opens up on bogeying the sixth on Sunday at The Masters
McIlroy birdied the third hole before making a double bogey on the par three fourth.
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He parred the fifth before slipping up again on the sixth hole, dropping a shot to fall two back of Cameron Young’s lead at the time.
Full credit to McIlroy who bounced back immediately with birdies on seven and eight before adding to his tally on 12 and 13.
When speaking after his round, the now six-time major winner revealed what he said to himself after making a bogey on the sixth hole on Sunday.
“I just, I looked at the board.
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“After I made the bogey on six, I think I went back to nine under at that point and I said, ‘okay if I can get to 14 under, I think I’ve got a really good chance of winning this tournament.
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“I didn’t quite get there.
“I got the 13, but, you know, 13 was good enough standing on the on the 18th tee.“
Fair play to McIlroy there. The strength of mind required to bounce back from the start he had cannot be underestimated.
Rory McIlroy reveals how he fixed his swing during The Masters
Rory McIlroy spoke to reporters after winning The Masters for the second time and responded when asked what he was trying to fix on the range on Saturday night.
“My path was just getting a little bit too far to the right with every club in the bag,“ he said.
“So I was just hitting too much of a draw. Then when the path is coming from that far inside, if you don’t keep your body moving at all, the ball is just going to go dead left.
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“So I focused on hitting like quite a few cut shots, focused on really trying to open up my lower body through impact.
“When I do that, it helps me stabilize the club face and start the ball more on line with more of a neutral flight.
“That was really the feel that I tried to get last night, and that was the feel I brought into today. Starting at the 1st hole, I hit some much better iron shots.“
McIlroy still struggled throughout his final round at The Masters on Sunday, but he was definitely much improved compared to how he played on Saturday.
A worthy champion indeed. The only question now is: how many more will he win?
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