Winner! Winner! Steak dinner! Grand Slam for Rory!!
Two-time back-to-back green jackets for Rory McIlroy is the first person to go back-to-back since Tiger Woods did back in 2001 and 2002. McIlroy just put himself in the conversation of arguably being the greatest European golfer of all time with now 30 PGA Tour Victories, 21 Euro Tour Wins, and 6 Majors. If McIlroy wins another major, which will more than likely happen with him only 37 years of age, the debate will officially come to a halt. Once he retires, avid fans and seasoned golf analysts will be able to make a more accurate assessment comparing McIlroy to the PGA legends of golf.
The Masters released the official payout early Saturday morning for the 54 players that were participating who made the final cut, making this tournament the highest paying men’s PGA major championship. One tournament. $22 million with a slight increase from last year by $1.5 million.
The Official Payout for The Masters Qualifiers:
1: Rory McIlroy, -12/276, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, -11/277, $2.43 million
T-3: Tyrrell Hatton, -10/278, $1.08 million
T-3: Russell Henley, -10/278, $1.08 million
T-3: Justin Rose, -10/278, $1.08 million
T-3: Cameron Young, -10/278, $1.08 million
T-7: Collin Morikawa, -9/279 $725,625
T-7: Sam Burns, -9/279 $725,625
T-9: Xander Schauffele, -8/280, $630,000
T-9: Max Homa, -8/280, $630,000
11: Jake Knapp, -7/281, $562,500
T-12: Jordan Spieth, -5/283, $427,500
T-12: Brooks Koepka, -5/283, $427,500
T-12: Hideki Matsuyama, -5/283, $427,500
T-12: Patrick Reed, -5/283, $427,500
T-12: Patrick Cantlay, -5/283, $427,500
T-12: Jason Day, -5/283, $427,500
T-18: Viktor Hovland, -4/284, $315,000
T-18: Maverick McNealy, -4/284, $315,000
T-18: Matt Fitzpatrick, -4/284, $315,000
T-21: Keegan Bradley, -3/285, $252,000
T-21: Ludvig Aberg, -3/285, $252,000
T-21: Wyndham Clark, -3/285, $252,000
T-24: Matt McCarty, -2/286, $182,250
T-24: Adam Scott, -2/286, $182,250
T-24: Sam Stevens, -2/286, $182,250
T-24: Chris Gotterup, -2/286, $182,250
T-24: Michael Brennan, -2/286, $182,250
T-24: Brian Campbell, -2/286, $182,250
T-30: Alex Noren, -1/287, $146,250
T-30: Harris English, -1/287, $146,250
T-30: Shane Lowry, -1/287, $146,250
T-33: Gary Woodland, E/288, $121,500
T-33: Dustin Johnson, E/288, $121,500
T-33: Brian Harman, E/288, $121,500
T-33: Tommy Fleetwood, E/288, $121,500
T-33: Ben Griffin, E/288, $121,500
T-38: Jon Rahm, +1/289, $101,250
T-38: Ryan Gerard, +1/289, $101,250
T-38: Haotong Li, +1/289, $101,250
T-41: Justin Thomas, +2/290, $83,250
T-41: Sepp Straka, +2/290, $83,250
T-41: Jacob Bridgeman, +2/290, $83,250
T-41: Kristoffer Reitan, +2/290, $83,250
T-41: Nick Taylor, +2/290, $83,250
T-46: Sungjae Im, +3/291, $69,750
T-47: Si Woo Kim, +4/292, $65,250
T-48: Aaron Rai, +5/293, $61,650
T-49: Corey Conners, +6/294, $57,600
T-49: Marco Penge, +6/294, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, +7/295, $55,350
52: Sergio Garcia, +8296, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, +10/298, $53,100
54: Charl Schwartzel, +12/300, $52,200
Each Golfer who didn’t make the final cut or qualified to compete for the final 36 will all still compensate for a $25,000 check.
There were a handful of notable golfers who stunningly didn’t make the cut, such as Vijay Singh (+10), Bryson DeChambeau (+6), JJ Spaun (+5), Bubba Watson (+5), Min Woo Lee (+11), Robert Macintyre (+7), and a few others. This weekend in Augusta didn’t feel like the traditional four days of the Masters that were held in the past, even though there were some moments that stood out like Fred Couples becoming the oldest player in history to open the Masters with consecutive birdies, which hasn’t been done since 1993 by Arnold Palmer. Another great moment was when Shane Lowry sunk a beauty and became the seventh player in Masters history with an ace on the 6th hole. Justin Speith also had a moment nailing a hole-out eagle from the bunker on hole 13 that was one of the best-looking shots all weekend. The men up on a masterclass considering the unusually dry conditions in Augusta making particular holes very unpredictable and extremely difficult to play.
From start to finish, the best of the top 20 put on quite the show all weekend long. Rory McIlroy finished the first day with –12, six strokes ahead of Sam Burns and Patrick Reed, both were tied in 2nd place. McIlroy was on another level, having the largest halfway lead in history at The Masters. Scottie Scheffler went the entire weekend with a bogey which hasn’t been done since 1942. Let’s face it, going 39 straight holes without one bogey in Augusta at The Masters is ridiculously hard to do. Scheffler didn’t have three weeks to practice in Augusta like McIlroy and still came in second place, three strokes behind McIlroy. Sheffler lost the first two rounds but came up a little short on the last two rounds. McIlroy dominated the first two rounds and fizzled out towards the end, almost losing the last two rounds but was able to stay on his game and keep afloat. McIlroy was 12 under on the second day and finished by one stroke at 12 under. Scheffler was 11 out of 1st place on Saturday and finished strong at 11 under. Insane comeback by Scotty. Between these two combined, they have now won 4 out of the last 5 green jackets at The Masters, and possibly a year from now that number might increase if Rory is lucky enough for a three-peat.
Dante Robinson | Senior PGA Analyst for The NSR Network
