The Masters 2025 Final Round LIVE: Rory McIlroy WINS the Masters! Northern Irishman beats Justin Rose in play-off to complete career Grand Slam and end 11-year major drought

We’ve witnessed sporting history tonight. McIlroy, overcome with emotion dropped to his knees on the 18th green after beating his European Ryder Cup team-mate, Justin Rose, after a play-off.

There was ecstasy for McIlroy but agony for Rose, who has now finished as a runner-up at The Masters on three occasions.

For the Northern Irishman, he now becomes the sixth golfer to win the Career Grand Slam after ending his 11-year wait to win a major.

This week, he has been nothing short of epic and his final round was a true rollercoaster of emotions.

I’ll be signing off on here for tonight but if you’re still after your golf fix, Mail Sport’s Riath Al-Samarrai has been reflecting on McIlroy’s victory at Augusta below…

I wrote in yesterday’s live blog that Luke Donald had been at Augusta this week and must have been brimming with both pride and excitement at how well his players have performed today.

US golfers have dominated at the last seven major championships and Rory McIlroy has finally broken that wait for a European champion and his 11-year wait for the Career Grand Slam and Green Jacket too.

It’s been a season for the Europeans, who have now won seven tournaments on the PGA Tour for the start of the 2025 season. McIlroy, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, all placed inside the top-10.

Shane Lowry’s +4 finish does not do justice to the level of golf he’s played this week, while a resurgent Matt Fitzpatrick showcased that he’s found his groove once again after a torrid 12 months.

It is an exciting time for European golf. Luke Donald’s men are bounding in form right on cue for this year’s Ryder Cup.

After carding a 66 on Friday and another 66 on Sunday, Rory Mcilroy entered an exclusive club of players to have shot back-to-back 66s at The Masters.

Interestingly, the last player to do so was Jordan Spieth in his first and second rounds, when he went on to win the Green Jacket in 2015.

Before him, Tiger Woods shot 66 in his second and third rounds at the 2005 Masters – where he also won the Green Jacket. It was the second time Tiger had done the feat, which he also accomplished on his way to winning the Green Jacket in 1997.

Before Woods, Raymond Floyd also hit back-to-back scores of six-under at the 1976 Masters – which he also won.

Bit of a theme here, right?

‘I think my approach play for the most part of this week was very good,’ McIlroy said during his press conference.

I’d say that’s an understatement given how he struck this on seven today. Magnificent.

Bryson DeChambeau has sensationally revealed that he and Rory McIlroy did not speak once during their round on Sunday.

Bryson, who fell off the pace after coming unstuck with a double bogey on 11 and a bogey on 12, finished the day at seven-under-par.

Reflecting on what happened to McIlroy on the 13th hole, where he too found the water with an approach, DeChambeau was asked on how McIlroy had been doing.

While explaining he ‘could have cried’ for McIlroy, he also added he had ‘no idea’ of how he was doing.

‘Didn’t talk to me all day.’

‘But he was just like — just being focused, I guess. It’s not me, though,’ he added.

Asked whether he tried to initiate conversation with McIlroy, DeChambeau added: ‘He wouldn’t talk to me.’Speaking on McIlroy’s seven on 13, DeChambeau added: ‘I wanted to cry for him. I mean, as a professional, you just know to hit it in the middle of the green, and I can’t believe he went for it, or must have just flared it.

But I’ve hit bad shots in my career, too, and it happens. When you’re trying to win a major championship, especially out here, Sunday of Augusta, the Masters, you have to just do it and get the job done and do it right. There were times where it looked like he had full control and at times where it’s like, what’s going on. Kind of looked like one of my rounds, actually.’

Rose last won a major in 2013, but at 44, he might just be playing his best golf yet.

When asked what he’s been doing to continue competing at the top level Rose replied…

Yeah, I mean, it doesn’t get any easier for sure. I think as you go through your career, you kind of think, oh, well, hopefully experience kicks in and certain things become easier. But no, I feel like I’m having to be more disciplined and make more sacrifices now than I ever have. That, I would say, is what I’m trying to do. I’m willing to put in that work.

The reason I’m willing to putt in that work is for these occasions, these moments. Standing ovation on 18 when I finished, I took a moment, not knowing the result, but just soaking that in. That was obviously a nice moment because it was still what might be, what could be, but you’re still — you know, you’re living the dream. Like one day, I won’t be competing this way at this tournament. So you know, for now, the hard work is totally worth it, to get these little moments, they are very special.

It’s been a sensational tournament from the 2013 US Open champion.

Rose, 44, finished with 10 birdies on his card for his final round at Augusta on Sunday, carding a 66 for his final round.

While there was ecstasy for Rory McIlroy on the 18th green, there was heartache, having been beaten by Sergio Garcia in a play-off at the 2017 Masters. It means he’s now a three-time runner-up at The Masters.

You know, some of the golf I’ve played this week has been probably the finest of my career, tee-to-green, and even on the greens at times. So the only thing I can point to was sort of back nine yesterday with the putter where I kind of let a few too many get away easily, and I felt like starting the day that that was kind of, possibly, going to cost me in the sense that I felt a little bit too far back. I mean, seven back starting the day.

Then something happened, for sure, around the middle of round. I just kind of went into the place that you dream about going to. I felt so good with my game. Felt so good with my mind. I began to sense that I was playing my way into the tournament. I was laser focused out there.

And then, you know, really didn’t look at a leaderboard all day until the 18th green, and realized that that putt — I could hear from the crowd on 17 that I was right, right in the mix, and then on 18, I figured Rory was behind me. I needed to make that putt to kind of give myself some hope.

So it’s the kind of putt you dream about as a kid, and to have it and hole it, it was a special feeling. And unfortunately, the playoff, they always end so quickly. You know, that’s sudden death. You don’t really get an opportunity. If you’re not the guy to hit the great shot or hole the great putt, it’s over.

So I felt like, that’s the nature of sudden death. But not really anything I could have done more today.

McIlroy has thanked patrons, event organisers and his family, before sharing a touching note with his daughter Poppy.

Over to my left, my family, my team. They’ve been on this journey with me the whole way through. They know the burden that I’ve carried to come here every year and try and try and try again and the one thing I would say to my daughter Poppy who is sitting over there is to never give up on your dreams – never ever give up on your dreams.

Keep coming back, keep working hard and if you put your mind to it you can do anything.

It’s an honour of a lifetime to be standing here and I’ve dreamt about this moment for so long. I can’t wait to be here again next year in Scottie’s position, hopefully putting the green jacket back on myself.

This is by far the greatest golf tournament in the world. I’m from a place where I might get criticised for saying that. I go back to watching this tournament with my father when I was seven or eight years old. Watching Tiger Woods do what he did in 1997, that was my inspiration to try to become what I am today.

To think I’m up here wearing this Green Jacket – it’s a dream come true. My dreams have been made today.

We’ve just seen the most amazing piece of history ever. We’re honoured that we are up here.

I was up here for 19 and you probably heard me on Sky just now and I blerted out that was the greatest… We’ll never see a scene like that at Augusta.

I think it tops it. For a man to do that after what he went through. But for a man to go through what he went through. An 11-year gap. And the ringer he put us all through today, but to make it to join the other five legends [as a Career Grand Slam winner] he’s a legend. How cool is that. At 35-years-old he’s a legend.

He just about did everything that we didn’t say at the start of the day. He’s got to plot his way around the golf course and hit the right tee shots and score on all the par fives. Didn’t do any of that. And then made an absolute pickle of two shots on 13 and 18 and on the 72nd hole.

We’re blessed. We’ve seen history. A remarkable, remarkable achievement.

Shane Lowry was waiting in the wings to congratulate his great mate with a big hug.

Reflecting on his achievements in the Butler Cabin a hugely emotional Rory McIlroy explained his pride to Scottie Scheffler, Jim Nantz and Augusta Chairman Fred Ridley.

It feels incredible. This is my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time. I’m wondering what we’re all going to talk about going into next year’s Masters! I’m honoured, thrilled and proud to call myself a Masters champion.

When I hit the wedge into the creek on 13th I felt like I did a really good job of bouncing back. I was really nervous going out. It was almost like the double bogey at the first calmed my nerves a bit. I couldn’t be more proud of myself being able to bounce back.

It was 14 years in the making after the four-shot lead in 2011. There was a lot of pent-up emotion that came out on the 18th green. A moment like that makes all the close calls worth it. I want to say hello to my mum and dad back in Northern Ireland.

I can’t wait to see them next week and celebrate this with them.

Justin Rose has opened up on what he told Rory McIlroy after he became Europe’s first-ever Grand Slam winner.

I just said to him this is a historic moment in golf. It’s pretty cool to share that moment with him

I wanted to be the bad guy today but it’s a momentous occasion for the game of golf.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Butch Harman and Dame Laura Davis have been attempting to put the magnitude of this achievement into perspective.

‘One of the greatest ever sporting moments,’ said Dame Laura Davis.

‘He’s just joined a group of five people the only ones to do it and now there’s six. He’s the one. It’s not anybody else. It’s not any of the guys we talk about every week, it’s Rory McIlroy,’ Butch Harmon added.

‘Just think about the way the round started. A double bogey on the first hole. He’s four-under par through 10. He’s got a four shot lead through 10 and it all goes away. He comes back like a gladiator.

‘Then we have the short putts that are missed, but that’s golf, they don’t make all of them.

‘But did he quit, no, did he hang his head, no, did he feel sorry for himself, no.

‘He’s got a Green Jacket,’ he added.

McIlroy finally has his Reckoning.

Speaking to Sky Sports Sir Nick Faldo said: ‘He’s just climbed Mount Everest.

‘I wanna give him a smack around the face and a big kiss.’

Rory McIlroy has been hugging friends, family members and members of his team as he makes his way towards the markers hut.

He’s just sent the crowd wild saying: ‘I’m off to go get a Green Jacket’.

Shane Lowry, waiting in the wings, comes forward to give Rory Mcilroy an almighty hug!

The sheer outpouring of emotion McIlroy has just exhibited on that 18th green is sensational. Scenes of relief, jubilation and ecstasy having finally conquered Augusta National. What an acheivement.

Sporting history. Rory McIlroy is finally a Career Grand Slam winner and a Masters Champion.

McIlroy is in tears on the green here. This means so much to the Northern Irishman who has finally broken his 11-year duck to win a major championship.

Huge credit to Justin Rose. He led this tournament after 36 holes, fell off the pace on Saturday but produced the most remarkable rounds, hitting a whopping 10 birdies to force a play-off.

McIlroy meanwhile, can barely believe it. He’s joined Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan as only the sixth player to have ever won a Career Grand Slam and he is soaking this all in.

After all pain of the last few years, battling his swing, feuding with LIV Golf and coming so agonisingly close to winning this illustrious championship, Mcilroy has finally done it.

It agonisingly trickles wide and long of the hole but he returns to tap in the par putt.

McIlroy has another chance to putt for the Career Grand Slam.

This has turned into a putting shoot out!

I didn’t think McIlroy could do better from the angle he had on the green but goodness that is exceptional golf.

He lands the ball slightly wider than Rose but the spin of the ball and the slope helps it trickle down towards the hole and he’s got less than five feet putt for birdie, with the pressure now back on Rose!

Wow! That was sensational. Rose is well and truly on fire here and is putting for birdie after almost slam-dunking his approach into the hole.

Just touching on the format quickly, Rose and McIlroy will play both 18 and 10 alternately over a sudden-death play-off until a champion is decided.

Having struck 10 birdies today, Rose comes into this bounding in confidence and his efforts on 18, rolling a monstrously long putt for a birdie to take him to -11 will give him a lot of confidence here.

Rose has found himself in this situation back in 2017 when he was beaten by Sergio Garcia in a sudden-death play-off at the Masters.

It’s a solid start from both players here on 18, with Rose finding the right side of the fairway, while Rory sends his ball slightly longer up the fairway.

Justin Rose (centre) plays alongside Sergio Garcia (left) at the 2017 Masters

Rory McIlroy has a quick turn around here. He’ll have about 10 minutes in the markers tent to hand in his card, grab a drink and compose himself before heading back down to the 18th tee box.

But after walking off the tee to rapturous applause from the patrons who have cheered him all day, McIlroy shared a brief embrace with his wife Erica and daughter Poppy.

What have we just witnessed!

Rory McIlroy can’t hole out for par on the 18th.

Despite his great drive and classy bunker shot, he leaves his putt out left to send this to a play-off between him and Justin Rose!

Mcilroy wraps up his round at 11-under-par 73 for his final round at The Masters.

He puffs his cheeks but doesn’t look too phased by the miss, quickly stepping off the green to share a kiss with his wife Erica and daughter Poppy.

Bryson DeChambeau taps in for seven-under.

Rory McIlroy is now lining up his putt.

It’s this for the Green Jacket.

He weights it very well and executes it brilliantly but he’s left himself a five-yard putt to win The Masters.

Nick Faldo, speaking on Sky Sports believes that there’s not a lot of break in this putt, having watched Jordan Spieth roll his in on the 18th about 30 minutes ago.

Bryson DeChambeau will go first to help give McIlroy a bit of a read here, but leaves his putt out right of the hole.

Oh no. McIlroy can’t find the green with his second shot and finds the sand on the greenside bunker to the right of the flag.

Looks like he just cut across the ball there a little too much, flying it into the sand.

He’ll have a tricky lip to work with here, but all he needs is one more great shot.

It says a heck of a lot about Scottie Scheffler’s game right now that he feels he’s had a difficult week but still goes round eight-under-par at the Masters and is currently fourth on the leaderboard.

While he struggled out there today and on Friday, having battled to overcome an injury earlier in the season, the defending champion was buoyed by his performance at Augusta this week.

Yeah, I think I hung really tough this week. I think today was another good example of where I wasn’t giving myself as many opportunities as I’m used to, but holed some really key putts and really hung in there.

You look at the par save I had on 2, I’m not going to make par on that hole if I’m getting overly frustrated with my poor swing off the tee. Same thing kind of goes for I made a huge par putt there on 11, too. Hit a decent iron shot but barely off and all of a sudden in a really hard spot to get up-and-down.

The margins on this golf course are really small, and so I’ve got to be on top of my game if I’m going to be hitting it on the right shelf mand this week I was just a touch off.

He’s currently fuelling up on water and an energy bar as we wait for Patrick Reed and Corey Conners to clear the fairway.

Reed’s just put an excellent chip onto the left side of the green to putt for birdie.

McIlroy, meanwhile, is ready and has a driver in his hand.

He winds up and it is an absolutely outstanding fade around the tree line, with the ball just sitting up next to the sand trap on the middle of the fairway.

Bryson unloads an unbelievable drive on the 18th too, having pulled back a shot to go -7.

Justin Rose is staying warm on the range and has already struck around 15 balls out there as the joint leader waits to see whether he’ll be called upon for a play-off.

McIlroy, though, is pressing once again.

A simply stunning approach with his eight iron on 17 sees him go within a few feet of the hole and he taps in for another birdie – his sixth of the day to go 12-under for the round.

Interesting watching McIlroy here. He’s been a lot more animated during this round than yesterday and has just taken himself away from the patrons around the green on 17 to calm his nerves as he prepares for his final hole.

Tough break for Ludvig Aberg. He can’t get out of the sand on 18, striking his first shot into the lip of the bunker before the ball rolled back onto him!

He’ll have another crack but sends his approach shot long into the greenside bunker and this will draw a close to his hopes of getting back to the top of the leaderboard.

This last hour of golf has been nothing short of gripping.

We’ve had our leaders sticking their golf balls in the pond, Rose putting out on 18 to tie the lead and now Patrick Reed is making a late surge.

He’s got one hole left to play so it might be too-little too late, but boy he’s had a great week, with the former Masters champion getting down to -9.

Hilariously, Reed didn’t even know the ball had dunked into the hole, shrugging his shoulders in confusion trying to pick it out from the air.

But my goodness is this a golf shot!

Ludvig Aberg is errant with his putter on the 17th and the Swede falls back to -9 on the leaderboard, two two shots behind Rose and McIlroy who are now -11.

Meanwhile, here’s how Rose took the clubhouse lead in emphatic fashion.

He’s played absolutely brilliantly this weekend and today has just shown why he is one of the best putters in the game.

He bounces back from a bogey on the 17th and sends the patrons wild on the 18th green by draining a remarkable putt from around 20-feet out to rattle off his 10th birdie of the day.

It means he levels McIlroy at 11-under-par.

He can’t take the two-shot cushion! Agonisingly he leaves his putt for eagle just wide of the hole.

But he does putt out for birdie to take a one-shot lead over Rose and Aberg.

He’s hit some stunning shots this week and this is up there as one of the best.

This is an absolutely remarkable shot from Rory Mcilroy.

His approach play all week has been sensational from tricky spots on the course and that might just be up there with his best yet.

With a blocked lie on the left of the fairway on 15, the Northern Irishman draws a sensational seven-iron around the trees to long his ball right on the green only a few feet away from the hole and will be putting for eagle.

Here’s the lie he was working with…

The food and drink prices at Augusta always send the internet into meltdown because of their insanely cheap prices.

But have you ever wondered how much the entire menu would cost?

Well, we have the answer…

After placing T2 in his first start at The Masters, the Swedish golfer finds himself back at the top of the leaderboard tied at 10-under with Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose.

Aberg really could be a couple of strokes further ahead after he agonisingly missed a couple of putts earlier in his round. but he’s just birdied two of his last three holes to give himself a chance at winning the Green Jacket.

It comes as Justin Rose, now about to tee off on 18, fluffed a par putt on 17 to hold his standing as the outright leader.

With three players on -10, there’s every chance we could go to a play-off later this afternoon…

Agony again for Rory McIlroy. He reads the green well but agonisingly just misses falling into the hole to make par.

It means Justin Rose takes the outright lead at -11 with McIlroy moving to -10.

After putting that ball in the water on 13, McIlroy slumped to his haunches and blew out a huge sigh.

The last two days of this year’s Masters have simply been enthralling and the tournament has just spun on it’s head…

Bryson DeChambeau has dropped back down the ladder to -6 while Rory McIlroy found the water on 13, but among all the chaos, Justin Rose has climbed back to the top of the leaderboard.

Byeong Hun An has just put it perfectly…

Nerves? Perhaps. But that was a tough break for McIlroy.

He goes down for a seven on the 13th and drops back to 11-under.

McIlroy looks fuming as the scorers adjust the big leaderboard next to the 13th green to show that Justin Rose has joined him at the top of the leaderboard.

The leader after 36 holes has put together a remarkable putting display, tapping in another birdie on the 16th to get back to -11 and climb back to the top of the leaderboard having dropped off the top on Saturday morning.

Spieth isn’t too far away from joining the illustrious group of Tiger Woods Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen, to win all four majors himself.

Having won the Masters in 2014, the US Open the same year and The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale just two years later, the 31-year-old just needs to win the PGA Championship to join those five golfing greats.

But Spieth, who wrapped up at Augusta with a final score of three-under-par, believes Rory McIlroy is ‘more deserving of the honour’ than himself…

Yeah, I think he’s more than deserving of having that honor. He’s obviously in control. As we all know, anything can happen now. He’s just hit it right on 11 so he’s got to navigate that situation and then navigate the 12th and the 13th.

If he gets to 14 with a decent lead, with the way he’s driving the ball and the way he’s striking his irons, he should be in pretty good position.

But the thing is you just saw Rosey I think just went birdie-birdie-birdie on 11, 12, 13, and then 14 and 15 are very birdieable pins today.

It’s almost like if I were Rory I’d wish that the pins were harder and it was playing a little harder at this point because he’s not going to be able to take the foot off the gas, and I believe he knows that.

If he can escape 11 and 12 with two pars, he should be in pretty good shape.

Aussie golfer Min Woo Lee has opened up on just how tough The Masters really is.

The 26-year-old clinched his first PGA Tour victory at the Texas Children’s Houston Open prior to heading to Augusta, and took a moment to compare the competitions, having finished his week at Augusta six-over-par.

Yeah, best players in the world here, small field, and it’s — I think the thing is, it’s got to be one of the most mentally challenging courses.

I had a chat with my caddie Bo walking up 18, and I just asked him if it’s more of a mental or a technical battle here. Obviously you need to be on with your game, but I think the mental has to be right up there.

I think the best top players mentally are going to be at the top of the leaderboard, which I think they are. That leaderboard up there is very — has a lot of major champion winners and guys who have played well over the past whatever years.

A lot of learning to do. I’m really early in the stages of hopefully my career at Augusta, so I can’t wait for whatever the next few years have in store.

Sheesh he got a big break there!

Meanwhile, McIlroy finds the heart of the green with his tee shot on 12.

That could be his day over! He hooks an approach shot left into the water hazard, ironically as McIlroy marginally avoids trickling his ball into the water himself!

This par four 520-yard hole has played as the fourth toughest on the course this week with 49 player making bogeys, while eight have made doubles.

No one has made an eagle or better on 11 while only 12 players have made putt.

It’s a tough one for DeChambeau who seems to be struggling with his ball striking.

It comes after Nick Faldo questioned his ability to fade the ball, after he sprayed a shot over the back of the 15th on Saturday.

Things are going from bad to worse for Dechambeau, who moves down to -7 after sending his putt wide. McIlroy also moves up to 13-under, tapping in for bogey.

Rose has well and truly put the demons of his 75 yesterday to bed.

He’s just cruised his way around Amen Corner going three-under-par!

After his stunning long-range putt on 11 and his precision on 12, Rose rattles a long iron over the water on 13 and slap bang onto the heart of the green.

He could have got down for Eagle and the 2013 US Open champion drops to the floor in agony as his curling putt just clips the edge of the hole but doesn’t fall!

Rose taps in for birdie, to go -10 with five to play.

And he’s firing some sensational shots out there.

His approach play has been absolutely on the money and he’s just ripped a beauty of a wedge shot to within 10 feet of the hole.

Bizarrely, he hits the ball but doesn’t seem to like the shot, dropping his club on the ground – but how could you not love that!

And what’s better is Rory has just rolled in the putt for another birdie! Outstanding!

he’s taken a four-shot lead into the turn but he and DeChambeau have to look out, as there’s a couple of players below them making a few big rumblings…

The two-time US Open champion is just about hanging on here.

He’s held even par through his last four holes and after a solid start with a birdie on the second he is struggling a little with his flat stick, having averaged 1.89 putts on average per hole – which is more than the field average of 1.59.

Bryson has also interestingly been hooking quite a few of his long irons and drives. Perhaps he’s pulling on his stroke as he looks to add more power to keep up with McIlroy? Who knows.

What we do know, is that you can never predict what Bryson will do next. A bit of momentum and he could very quickly pick things up.

He loves to feed off the crowd and revealed how he processes each shot on Saturday…

Going back to the major championships, I’ve just learned. It takes experience to feed off of that energy, you know, when you’re going super low and you’re feeding off of your partner. When I’m out there filming, you have to learn how to like control yourself and settle down, okay, all right, we have to make birdie on the next hole, we have to do this, whatever it is.

It’s the same situation out here where you’re just, essentially, feeding off of the Patrons, and then you go, all right, I have to settle in, I have to hit this next shot. It’s a lot of, like, reacting and being who I am, which is, you know, you guys can make — you guys can say whatever you want, but I’m just a little different.

And then off of that, I just settle back in and go, all right, this is the next shot. I have to execute it to the best of my ability. So it’s a lot of outward expression, and then I go, all right, that’s enough and I focus back in.

We’re approaching the turn here with our final group and McIlroy is bounding once again.

After finding the fairway with his drive on the par four, the second he’s hit today, McIlroy drops onto the green before putting out for a three.

He’s not the only McIlroy to be putting well this week, check out this brilliant shot from his daughter, Poppy, during the Par Three tournament on Wednesday.

Justin Rose is on the march! He’s three holes ahead of McIlroy and Bryson, but goes level with the American and Ludvig Aberg, draining in two spectacular putts on 11 and 12.

His long-range putt on the par four 11th hole was the pick of the pair, rolling his ball perfectly along the green and into the cup from around 40-feet.

The Englishman had been less than impressed with his shot into the green, though, and bizarrely made several clucking sounds as he walked down the hill at 11, as if he was calling himself a chicken, for backing out of putting the ball closer to the pin.

Bounding in confidence, he follows that up on the 12th with another stunning putt for a birdie and suddenly, he’s back up to second.

At 44, Rose is playing some of the golf of his life, and it might be down to a little intervention from his wife…

The Masters revealed on Saturday that the prize pot for this year’s tournament stands at $21million (£16.05m).

But it’s not the most on the PGA Tour.

For comparison, the Players Championship interestingly had a prize pot of $25m.

The winner of the Masters will receive a hefty chunk of that $21m, pocketing $4.2m (£3.21m) while the runner-up will bank $2.26m (£2.05m) while third place will pocket $1.42m (£1.09m).

Interestingly, the golfer ranked 50th will pocket $52,920, while all those who did not qualify for the final 36 holes will pocket $25,000.

McIlroy revealed he had watched Premier League football yesterday to take his mind off things before shooting a third-round 66 to grab the lead. Fortunately, he arrived at the course today before his beloved Manchester United had been walloped 4-1 by Newcastle.

He just could not stop smiling as he strutted down the fairway…

Things aren’t looking so good for either Rory or Bryson right now though, with the Northern Irishman and the American both finding the sand on the eighth.

McIlroy has hit one of of five fairways so far today. Meanwhile, Bryson’s hit four out of five.

The crowd here appears to be a 50/50 split. McIlroy emerged from the clubhouse with a smile and marched to the first tee to huge cheers. DeChambeau walked out around 10 minutes later, fist-bumping all the way, and the noise was repeated. It’s been that way on the first seven holes throughout each player’s ups and downs.

Rory McIlroy revealed earlier this week that he’s been getting into fiction novels ahead of The Masters.

The four-time major winner revealed he’s been reading The Reckoning by John Grisham and is now well into the book.

‘Book is going okay. I’m probably only on like chapter 6,’ he said yesterday.

McIlroy also shed some light on what things are like for a pro golfer on the morning of the final round of The Masters…

These are busy weeks, and by the time I get home and get dinner and shower, it’s like, you know — again, it’s either a toss-up between a show or a book. I think right now I’d just rather watch the show.

And then this morning, you know — I’m sure it will be a similar tee time tomorrow as it was today. So I watched a little bit of Premier League football this morning, and then I actually watched “Zootopia” with Poppy. Very, very good movie if anyone’s interested.

And then by that time, I try to get to the golf course three, three and a half hours before I play, and then I feel like those three hours when I get here go pretty quick from locker room, up to the gym, warm up, back here, back in the locker room, food, shower, get ready, go to the range. I feel like that three hours goes really, really quickly.

It’s just that trying to fill that time between sort of 7:00 and 10:30 before heading to the golf course. You know, thankfully there are some good options. But the one thing I’ve tried to do a good job of this week is just not being on the phone and just trying to stay clear of that and do other things.

He’s just dropped a wedge 150 yards, over a towering set of pines to put his ball within around eight feet of the pin on the par four seventh, agonisingly just trickling his ball past the hole.

That was some shot and McIlroy can’t believe it either, he’s laughing in amazement to his caddie Harry Diamond as they strut up the fairway together.

But he can’t putt out for birdie! He leaves his putt short! But I think the world No 2 will take that result from where he was, even if he can’t get down to -13.

Bryson, meanwhile, finds himself in a horrible lie inside the front greenside bunker and he clips his ball out onto the green but reads the pace and contours on the dance floor perfectly, giving himself a five-footer for par.

You can never rule this man out.

The defending champion has had a really tough week out there with his short game and putting but he’s not giving up without a fight.

Scottie Scheffler has just birdied three of the past four holes to take himself back to -7.

MichaelKim is currently down to -1 having begun the day at level par.

He’s another player who has toiled with the course today carding three birdies and two bogeys.

Kim, though, took to X on Saturday night to open up on what it was like hearing the roars from the crowds following McIlroy yesterday and how he was left staggered watching the Northern Irishman’s name fly up the leaderboard during the third round.

‘I was playing when those big roars from Rory was happening but it’s impossible to know who’s making them,’ he wrote on X.

‘Then I see the big scoreboards and went. Unbelievable. It’s really cool to hear the roars reach other holes since they always talk about that on TV.’

Here’s his reflections on Augusta National…

He’s been battling the course so far and has had to wait to card his second birdie of the round, but does so on the par-three sixth, holing out a long and winding 18-foot putt.

He has the chance to add another score to his card on the next hole but Aberg’s birdie putt agonisingly just lips out.

Aberg has missed two consecutive cuts coming into this weekend’s event, and despite having finished as a runner-up here last year, the European Ryder Cup hero has shirked his PGA Tour demons to get up to third on the leaderboard.

He went viral for this slightly bizarre moment at the 2024 Masters, when a patron appeared to knock his snack out of his hand as he fist-bumped the fans while walking off the 18th.

McIlroy gets into a spot of trouble on the par four fifth hole, slicing his drive out right into the pine straw on the right of the fairway.

But it’s not a problem for the Northern Irishman, who notably scrambled well from the pine needles on Friday for an eagle on 13 and a par on the 14th.

McIlroy rips a mid-iron out from the straw and sensationally avoids the bunker at the back of the green.

It’s a great scramble with Rory getting the ball on with his wede before tapping in from around 10-feet for par.

There’s been a lot of talk today about how Bryson DeChambeau left the 18th green on Saturday.

To be fair, he had just birdied the last with a brilliant texas wedge, but still, he was pumped.

It was reminiscent of his win at Pinehurst last year where he was running around with the US Open trophy, handing it to fans around the golf course to hold and enjoy with him.

Bryson yesterday was seen staring down the patrons in the crowd after tapping in a birdie and looked to be feeding back off their energy.

Once a polarising figure on the PGA Tour, Bryson is now one of the most loved golfers in the world for his unique and entertaining style of play.

When asked whether he ever fears burn out after exerting so much energy around the course during a tournament week, hitting nearly 400 balls on the range on Tuesday, heading out late last night to practice his putting and fist bumping patrons, Bryson appeared to shrug his shoulders.

I’ve done this a few times now, and I know when my limit is. Definitely the most important thing is going back and relaxing and having a fun, enjoyable night. You know, just hanging out with my friends and family, and just being myself.

You know, keep being myself. When I’m more of myself, I feel like I can keep going no matter what. It’s the times where you have to put on a face or do something or whatever that you don’t feel like you can keep going. So for me, the more I can just be myself, the longer I can go.

Here he comes! After that disappointing start, he’s back to 12-under-par here with another birdie on the par four third, draining an excellent putt from 9-feet out.

Bryson, meanwhile, can’t keep up the pace and concedes back-to-back bogeys to go back to nine-under and concede a three-stroke deficit against McIlroy.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson has just rolled an absolutely incredible 44-foot putt in on the par-three 16th to get himself down to -3.

Watson has the patrons around this stunning par three on their feet with that effort.

The 2012 and 2014 Masters champion, who has enjoyed an excellent week back at The Masters this week, even says he’s had to re-learn a lot of the greens at Augusta, despite having played this illustrious golf course so many times over the years.

Well, you’re always learning because weather dictates things. Weather has dictated that there’s new greens out there, and so now you have to re-learn those greens. There was a couple pin placements today that I don’t know if I’ve ever seen.

So yeah, you’re always trying to get information. But as you get older that information doesn’t do as good as it used to.

By the way, Watson’s stunning shot on 10th on his way to win the 2012 Masters goes down as one of my greatest-ever shots at The Masters.

He takes the lead with a great birdie on the third, draining an eight-foot putt to get back to 11-under-par.

DeChambeau, meanwhile, despite getting to the green in fewer shots than McIlroy, three-putts on the par four and gets down for a bogey.

I have to say McIlroy looked a little nervous over those first two holes but he’s shaken that off now and is bounding away high in confidence following that birdie.

Ludvig Aberg could have risen to eight-under-par after his first four holes.

He scrambles well to make par on the par-five second, with a lovely texas wedge to 8 feet of the hole before just leaving a putt wide on the par-three fourth, ultimately tapping in for par.

Aberg, though, is bounding in confidence after this week. He’s played brilliantly after a few difficult finishes on the PGA Tour this season. Speaking yesterday, he told reporters:

I think just knowing that I can be in this situation and still play really good golf. I think I teed off in the second or third to last group last year, and it was really cool to feel all the buzz and feel all the excitement and nerves and still able to go out and shoot a good score.

So hopefully we can do that tomorrow again and see where it ends up.

The former US Ryder Cup Captain is having a weekend to remember.

Barring a blip on the first, going down for bogey, Johnson eagles the second with a stunning approach on the second to take him back to -5 for the week.

Yesterday, he shot one of the best rounds of the week, hitting a low 66, that included six birdies and one eagle to get down to -4 heading into Sunday.

After the anguish of the 2023 Ryder Cup, Johnson has been back on the course working on his own game and admits he is made up that the fruits of his labour are coming to the fore.

I mean, it’s been — I’ve had it a few days this year. If I go back to it, you’d have to go back to my results. I haven’t played a ton. It’s not like I’m playing that much. I’m 49, so I’m not playing quite as much as I used to.

But I had some days out on the West Coast, Sony, where I was right there three two or three days. I played well at Torrey. I don’t play way well at Torrey. So opportunities is what I’m saying.

I don’t hit the ball far enough to compete on some of these venues, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have a decent finish. It doesn’t mean I can’t make cuts. It doesn’t mean I can’t still do it.

I don’t know. Today was an extreme, obviously, example of the fruits of my labor showing up.

Here’s his eagle on two…

A double bogey on the first sees McIlroy move back to ten-under.

His shot out of the bunker came up short of the green and his approach in, while a good shot, sped off the back for the green, with the Northern Irishman two-putting.

Bryson, meanwhile, scrambles well from the pine straw and putts out for par to go level with McIlroy at -10.

The duo have now teed off on the second and McIlroy has found the bunker again in the middle of the fairway.

I’ve just been scrolling as Rory McIlroy saves par on the second hole and I’ve come across this very cool thread that many golf lovers will enjoy.

Players, when invited to The Masters, must RSVP to Augusta National that they will be attending. And while we all know what the players invites look like, The Masters’ official X account has revealed some of the very cool responses they’ve received from the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Meanwhile, Bryson’s just got down for a birdie to take the outright lead.

He’s two under through three holes and has responded immediately after his disappointing finish on Saturday, carding bogeys on 16 and 18.

It comes as Corey Conners has picked up a shot on the first to fall back to seven, tied with the Englishman and Ludvig Aberg.

Elsewhere, the reigning Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler is having a real battle with the golf course, and has just drained a clutch 30-foot putt to save for par on the par five second.

Meanwhile, did any one catch Justin Rose doing this on the fairway on Friday?

It’s been fascinating to watch Rory McIlroy make his way around Augusta National this week.

It’s a place that holds so many mixed emotions for the Northern Irishman, who has missed cuts, come so agonisingly close to winning and has played some of the golf of his life around this beautiful track.

Whatever the outcome is later tonight, McIlroy has been exceptional this week, with Saturday’s front nine being some of the best golf he’s played in his career.

Despite a bogey on the eighth, it seemed as though the whole field was left gobsmacked by the numbers he was putting on the board.

First, it was the birdie on one, then the eagle chip-in on two. A brilliant putt on three saw him go four under for the first trio of holes.

Three was the magic number yesterday with McIlroy making history as the first and only player at Augusta to hit consecutive threes in his first six holes at Augusta.

He’s been very methodic in the way he’s carried himself around Augusta this week – showing fleeting moments of emotion, but keeping everything in check, not letting the lows on Thursday dog him too much and not letting the highs of Saturday overwhelm him.

The 35-year-old admits he doesn’t want to be a total robot out there on the course and does want to ride the momentum. But he wants to keep things in check.

He gave a brief nod of thanks to the crowd and his playing partner Corey Conners yesterday after making that chip on the second. But he looks focused on getting over the line this week.

‘I think I am quite a sort of momentum player,’ he said on Saturday.

‘So I have to — there is a balance, though. You know, you have to sort of try to ride that momentum as much as you can but then also temper it with a little bit of, you know, rationale and logic.

‘And so it is, it’s a fine dance. But I certainly don’t want to be a robot out there, but at the same time I don’t want to be too animated, either.’

For him, McIlroy has been living in a bubble this week as he attempts to shut out all the outside noise and chatter about whether he can finally clinch the career grand slam and the coveted Green Jacket.

He revealed he’s written a few notes on the back of his yardage book to help him stay grounded and focused throughout his round, though was unwilling to say what they were.

‘Yeah, I mean, there’s — you know, I have a few little notes written in the back of my yardage book that I glance at every now and again while I’m walking the fairway. You know, just little reminders. Little, you know, one- or two-sentence things.’

‘And yeah, that’s really it.’

And it’s a nervy start from Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.

McIlroy’s comes out looking slightly better though, with the Northern Irishman sending his ball into the bunker just up to the right of the fairway on the first.

It’s not a bad drive with the ball flying fairly straight – it just seems to have come off the right side of his clubface.

Bryson, meanwhile, hooks his ball out left, but he’s found it!

He’s stuck behind the trees in the pine straw and has a horrible angle into the green.

He plays it well though, striking low off the ground with a long-iron and reaches the lip of the green.

Min Woo Lee wraps up his final round at Augusta with a 74, having been penalised with an extra shot on Saturday for a rules infringement through Amen Corner.

He’s saved for par on 18 with a stunning chip out the sand, bouncing the ball into the hole to send the patrons mad on the final hole.

Meanwhile, Matt McCarty has just made up for a bogey on five with a stunning slam dunk on the par four seventh to get down for an eagle!

He’s back with a bang after a torrid 75 on Saturday.

The former US Open champion rips a stunning wedge to within 20-feet of the hole and drains the put to kick off his final round.

Tommy Fleetwood, on the other hand is struggling to get back into minus figures having navigated his way around Amen Corner level par.

The man from Merseyside had a bit of a turbulent start to the round going birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie, but has struggled to score since the fifth.

Elsewhere, I’ve been very pleased to see Max Homa do so well this week at the masters. He’s level at the start of his round and through four holes, but has really struggled with his swing in recent months.

Homa has missed the cut in each of his last five PGA Tour events in what’s been a wretched run of form.

He’s now three-under at the Masters, and could even push for a top-10 finish, if he can claw back a few shots.

Nick Faldo has joked he wants Irish Stew at the Champions dinner next year as he hopes Rory McIlroy can get over the line today to finally end his long wait for a Green Jacket.

The three-time Masters champion told Sky Sports golf: ‘What a historic day. Can you imagine you’re going to your club right now and you have a chance of winning the spring medal and the autumn cup? Imagine your nerves and this guy is going out for this… it’s better than history he’s joining five other guys, what an incredible achievement it could be [to win the Grand Slam].’

Here’s what Faldo thinks McIlroy has to do to get the edge over Dechambeau.

Justin Thomas bounced back after having conceded two bogeys in his opening four holes, with a pair of birdies on 17 and 18.

It was a difficult week though for the two-time PGA Tour Championship winner, who had started his final round at +4 but wrapped up at +2 for Sunday.

Thomas has come so agonisingly close to winning a PGA Tour event this year, having endured a torrid slump in 2024, missing the cut at the Players Championship, PGA Championship, Masters and US Open.

This year, he’s placed as a runner-up in two PGA Tour events and had looked like he could come into The Masters in good fettle, but struggled with a 76 in his third round.

Augusta National drew some questions from fans after making a big change for Sunday…

He’s underway on the first and rips a brilliant wedge shot onto the green to within only a few feet of the pin!

That’ll be a huge confidence boost for the US Open champ, who was seething after his 75 on Saturday…

This is a pretty cool story from Colt Knost of CBS, reported via Chris Shepherd on X.

Bryson is understood to have gone for a walk around the neighbourhood he is staying in last night and stopped to spend an hour with a group of people in their back garden practising their putting!

Hideki Matsuyama couldn’t quite get through 18 with a flawless card despite posting a brilliant 66. The 2021 Masters Champion just comes unstuck on the 18th but he’ll be made up with his performance today cutting his score down from +4 to -2.

Tyrrell Hatton has started well too, making birdie on the second after draining a pretty tough putt on the par-five from around 15-feet out.

Collin Morikawa is also charging up the leaderboard having birdied the second and third holes and is now up to -5.

It’s been a bit of a busy morning for Rory McIlroy who says he’s been busy watching lots of sport.

McIlroy is an investor in Alpine and said he enjoyed sitting down watching Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan finish seventh and 13th on Sunday in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Fortunately Sunday mornings are good for sport. I watched Carlos Alcaraz in the tennis in Monte Carlo. I watched a little bit of soccer, a little bit of F1. So I just tried to keep myself distracted with other sports I guess

But once you get to the golf course, things sort of settle down. You get into your routine and you get going and you do what’s familiar which is comforting and, yeah, that’s all I’ve been doing. That’s my strategy for the day and just trying to show up with the attitude I’ve shown up with over the first three days.

The Masters never ceases to amaze us with it’s absolutely insane food prices.

I for one want to try the pork BBQ sandwich over the pimento cheese and egg salad options!

McIlroy and Scheffler took on DeChambeau and Koepka last year in a 2v2 PGA Tour vs LIV Golf match.

The Northern Irishman was speaking to fans about being trumped by DeChambeau at the US Open. But the LIV star came out with a brilliant comment…

McIlroy walks over the the practice area and stops for a quick chat with his great mate Shane Lowry. He’s looking in good spirits!

Bryson meanwhile has just told CBS Sports: ‘I’m excited for the opportunity, I’m going to have a lot of fun today and it’s going to be a great battle.’

This should be a good grouping. The US Ryder Cup star is teeing up with Viktor Hovland and I’m very interested to see how they both play.

Let’s just touch on Shane Lowry’s comments in his interview on Saturday night again, with Lowry fuming at reporters at Augusta National.

Lowry cited Collin Morikawa’s comments earlier in the season, where the American refused to talk to journalists after missing out on winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Morikawa said he ‘didn’t owe anyone anything’ and copped flack from Paul McGinlee and Brandel Chamblee.

McIlroy had snubbed a post round interview after missing out on winning the US Open at Pinehurst last year, and he sided with Morikawa’s comments.

‘Well, he’s right,’ McIlroy said at Augusta this week.

‘Not that I think he could have worded it a little bit better, but look, every other athlete, whether it be in the NBA, NFL, they’re obligated to speak to you guys after a game. We’re not.

‘Whether that’s something that the PGA Tour looks to in terms of putting that into their rules and regulations, but as long as that’s not the case and we have that option to opt out whenever we want, expect guys to do that from time to time.’

The 2021 Masters Champion has just cut his score down from +4 to -2 but he’s running out of holes.

He’s through 15 and has birdied six holes so far, having spun a stunning chip onto the par-five to tap in for a four.

A couple of players are taking advantage of the conditions out there. It’s warm, the greens are firm and there’s not a lot of wind!

How’s this for a picture of Matsuyama on 12 too!

After leading the field for 36 holes, Justin Rose’s putting and wedges let him down during his third round, with the 2013 US Open Champion conceding five bogeys to card a third-round 75.

The Englishman appeared to fade out of contention while playing alongside Bryson De Chambeau yesterday. He noticeably struggled with the speed of the greens on seven, missed a 5-foot put on 16 and then three-putted on 18.

Interestingly, Rose hit 89 per cent of greens in regulation on Saturday, putting himself into some good spots to score but just wasn’t clinical enough.

He finished up his third round making an average of two putts per hole, having previously averaged 1.39 putts per hole during his first round.

The Englishman will start his final round at +5 and stands a chance of climbing back into contention if he can claim a few strokes back early on.

Min Woo Lee, who finished up four-over-par on Saturday, was handed a stroke penalty on Saturday evening after his round.

After striking his ball down the middle of the fairway, Lee had pulled out an iron as he prepared to strike the ball but the ball subsequently moved.

Lee had called for a rules official immediately after the incident occurs, he pleaded his case to the official, having grounded his club but unintentionally caused the ball to move.

His playing partner Harris English was not fussed by the incident and was happy to simply play on, but Lee was later awarded a stroke penalty.

Justin Thomas is having a difficult final round, after beginning his round at four-over, the American Ryder Cup star fell to +6 after back-to-back bogeys at three and four.

He’s pulled back a shot on the fifth, but this is really not representative of his form this season.

After slumping out of form over the past 12 months, missing the cut at the Players, Masters and US Open in 2024, Thomas has rekindled things this year, placing as a runner-up in two events this season.

But he has struggled in his final two rounds at Augusta this week, going in for 76 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Tommy Fleetwood is also battling the course, having gone birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie across his first five holes!

First out today, Brian Campbell is mounting a late charge up the leaderboard but sadly he’s running out of holes.

He’s gone six-under par for his round and could even have dropped to seven-under had he not carded a bogey on the par-three fourth.

It looks like he’s about to concede another shot on the 14th having found himself into the pine straw, but what a final round this is shaping up to be from the American who started the day bottom of the leaderboard at +5.

Sir Nick Faldo has lifted the lid on the one thing McIlroy is up against today as the Northern Irishman bids to win a career grand slam.

McIlroy will join golfing greats Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen, as the sixth player to win all four major titles, if he conquers Augusta on Sunday.

But Faldo thinks there’s one aspect of his game that he has to overcome to do so.

‘If you’re playing good, you’re playing good. But if anything goes wrong, it’s how you deal with the spiral of negativity…’ the three-time champion said.

‘That’s the only thing I think he’s [McIlroy] has to deal with.’

‘Then you’ve got Bryson… the Bison… He’s a Bison in a china shop isn’t he. On paper, Rory is playing better, so if he just play smart, put four great drives down the par-fives, that will be really important. Because he should shoot four-under for the par fives and then that will be a lock. If he just does that and plays smart elsewhere…’

Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods is currently recovering from undergoing surgery on a ruptured Achilles injury.

The 49-year-old golfing great had been hopeful of returning to Augusta this year, having missed out on hosting the Genesis Invitational in February at Torrey Pines, following the passing of his mother.

The 49-year-old revealed earlier in March that he had been practising at home but felt a sharp pain in his ankle and was forced to undergo surgery on the injury.

He is expecting a full recovery – but there is no word yet on when he could potentially return to the PGA Tour.

It’s a mixed start from Tommy, who has gone birdie, birdie, bogey for his opening three holes on Sunday.

The Englishman started his round at +1 but has clawed his way back to evens.

In case you missed it, check out the heartwarming interview his son, Frankie, delivered during the Par Three Tournament earlier this week.

It’s also 20 years since Tiger Woods produced perhaps one of the greatest shots in the history of The Masters.

Tiger would go on to claim his fourth Green Jacket that year.

Interesting comments from Jordan Speith ahead of his final round at Augusta on the 10-year anniversary of his victory here at The Masters.

Spieth, who is also in the hunt for a career grand slam this year, has toiled this week at Augusta National and begins his final round at one-under later this afternoon.

Having won around this illustrious track previously, he believes a good night’s sleep and a fast start are what can help spur you on to win the Green Jacket.

I was maybe – ignorance is bliss – I was young I was 21 I didn’t sleep great on Friday or Saturday night relative to how I was sleeping then – those would be great nights to sleep now with kids. But, you know, I was up early and I tried to just have some fun, be lively and talk.

You know you want to be quiet because you’re thinking about the day, but in general it’s just better to break out of that and be yourself. I just went through my routine, I came out here [the practice area] early, I was putting incredibly that week and continued that on Sunday.

The start of the round was a huge deal, Rosey [Justin Rose] came out firing… but I poured it on top after the first three holes to go on top to get that early start. Those first five holes are a big deal here and you don’t get a lot of credit, because you saw what Rory did yesterday, where he’s five-under through six, but you could easily be two over through those first five without hitting too many bad shots. There’s a big difference in those first-five holes, and as we look to those leader groups that will be a big deal.

Hideki Matsuyama is flying at the start of his fourth round having dropped four shots through nine holes.

The 2021 Masters Champion started the day at +4 but he’s now level and is bounding his way up the leaderboard.

The Japanese star has just made a brilliant birdie from the pine straw on the ninth hole, chipping into the green to within 7-feet, before draining his putt.

A fascinating insight from the legendary golf coach, Butch Harmon, now, with the 81-year-old revealing what Bryson could do today to unsettle Rory and take a psychological advantage in their battle later this afternoon.

While these two will no doubt cross paths later this year at Bethpage, it looks like they’re set to play their own Ryder Cup of sorts around Augusta later this afternoon.

‘You got PGA Tour and LIV… Remember when LIV first came? Rory was very anti LIV Golf,’ Harmon told Sky Sports.

‘He said a lot of negative things about it.’

In fact, McIlroy lost friendships over the LIV-PGA spat, with the Northern Irishman falling out with long-standing friend Sergio Garcia, while also being embroiled in a fiery spat with ex-LIV CEO Greg Norman.

‘Bryson, is going to be like: “This is almost like a Ryder Cup”.

‘There’s going to be a little bit of this out there today,’ the legendary golf coach said, while rubbing his fists together implying that things could be a little edgy between the pair.

Harmon noted how Rory flew through his front nine holes on Saturday and how Bryson likes to take a little bit more time over his short game.

‘The other thing is Rory is going to outdrive Bryson on every hole. Now Bryson is kind of a slow player anyway, I think you might see Bryson walk a little slower down the fairway just to make Rory wait a little. And when you’re the first guy to hit, you’ve got the chance to get the ball up on the green and make the other guy look at it.

‘So there’s a lot of underlying things going on that reminds me of a little bit of how a Ryder Cup [plays out].’

I was very lucky to be invited to play Stoke Park earlier this year, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the movie Goldfinger.

Stoke Park was the filming location for Sean Connery’s now iconic golfing scene with Auric Goldfinger, where the pair hack their way around the grounds of the Berkshire-based manor, with 007 ultimately upstaging Goldfinger on the final hole.

Stoke Park is an absolutely outstanding golf course and has re-opened it’s doors to players after a huge refurbishment.

Interestingly, the course was designed by legendary course architect Harry Colt and his assistant, Alister MacKenzie – who famously designed, you guessed it, Augusta National.

And interestingly, the par-three seventh at Stoke Park is cited as the inspiration for the par-three 16th hole, Redbud, at Augusta National.

The 16th at Augusta has played as one of the trickier holes this week, with yesterday’s pin placement catching out a few players, including Shane Lowry, who didn’t get quite enough power on his shot, but got lucky missing the water thanks to the greenside bunker.

So far this week the 16th has played as the 8th hardest hole, accumulating 34 birdies, 147 pars and 52 bogeys. There have been eight doubles on the 170-yard par-three.

Rory and Bryson gave an insight into what their Saturday evenings might look like as the overnight leaders prepared for Sunday at The Masters.

Rory, who revealed earlier in the week that he had been reading John Grisham’s The Reckoning, told reporters that he has also been watching Brigerton, and revealed on Saturday that he’d head back to his house, grab some grub and chill out by watching an episode of the period TV series.

I’ll have some dinner. Maybe try to make it through the second episode of the third season of “Bridgerton.” Fell asleep during episode 1 last night. And that’s it.

Yeah, sort of put the phone away. Don’t look at it. Try not to look at it until tomorrow night.

Bryson, meanwhile, said he’d be beading back to his rental to watch a James Bond film, preferably one starring Piers Brosnan.

Yeah. I mean, for me, it’s going to be practising a little bit before it gets dark. Eating. Looking at my phone. I don’t have a problem with that.

And just getting treatment on my body. Relaxing as much as possible. Watching a movie, probably, tonight. A fun movie. I don’t know, what’s tonight — oh, it will probably be a James Bond movie or something like that. That will be fun. I love James Bond movies.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll probably go to bed late and get up around 10:00, 10:30 and see how the course is playing and go from there.

Daniel Craig or Piers Brosnan?

‘Piers Brosnan,’ he added.

Who is your favourite James Bond actor?

Simply put, I think he’s just been a little bit rusty this week.

Scottie Scheffler notably missed the first four PGA Tour events of 2025 after sustaining a hand injury at Christmas.

It has set him back a bit after the world No 1 rampaged through 2024, winning seven Tour events last year, including The Masters and the FedEx Cup.

He knows how to win around this track but Scottie is just struggling with a bit of consistency. After an opening round of 68, he carded five bogeys in his second round to finish one-under.

It’s his putting that let him down in his third round, with Scheffler three-putting twice during his second round, slumping to T36 in the leaderboard for his putting stats.

He missed a fairly routine putt on the seventh hole on Friday to make par, before back-to-back bogeys on 10 and 11, with Scheffler three-putting on the former.

Asked to characterise his round on Saturday, Scheffler said:

Honestly, I don’t know. At times I felt good, at times I felt bad. I just couldn’t really get anything going. I think I ended up with even, which felt like I had to scramble a lot today, actually.

I got off to a good start today, but after that I didn’t really feel like I gave myself enough opportunities, and the opportunities that I did have, I didn’t really quite take advantage of.

Today and yesterday were days where I could have shot myself out of the tournament. I battled really hard both days. Today I made some great up-and-downs. I think I only had two bogeys for the day, which some of the spots I put myself in I felt like was a decent job of only making two bogeys.

Going into tomorrow, have a good front nine and start moving my way up the leaderboard and you never know what can happen on the back nine. Just going out tomorrow, just try to get off to a good start, and maybe start like today, just hole a few more putts.

Six birdies in eight holes…

Zach Johnson had a day to remember on Saturday. The 2023 US Ryder Cup captain was clinical in round three to rise to -4 on the leaderboard with a card of 66.

Check out some of his shots around the back nine here…

Let’s just run it back to Shane Lowry’s fiery press conference yesterday. His comments came after Morikawa doubled down this week on comments he had made about his obligations to conduct post-round interviews.

It began after he was criticised for choosing not to talk to the media after missing out on winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational to Russell Henley last month.

Morikawa said at The Players Championship that he was ‘just p***** off’ and that ‘he didn’t want to talk to anyone’ before stating ‘I don’t owe anyone anything.’

After his first round at Sawgrass, Morikawa stopped reporters at the end of his press conference, stating: ‘I just want to add one more thing.

‘I might bite my tongue after saying this, but to the Brandel Chamblees, to the Paul McGinleys, to the Rocco Mediates of the world, I don’t regret anything I said.

‘It might have been a little bit harsh that I don’t owe anyone, but I don’t owe anyone.

‘I respect the fans. I’m very thankful for them. I’m grateful. It makes me emotional, but it hurts to hear people say this [criticise], and especially you guys [media], because I finished the round and I went to go sign for 10 minutes, 15 minutes for all the people after.

‘Not a single person from media went to go follow me because, I don’t know. But that’s me. So for people to be calling me out is – it’s interesting. It doesn’t show anything.

‘I get what you guys are saying. But I was there. I was signing for every single person right after the round, whether they wanted it or not. I finished second. They couldn’t care less. But yeah, I’m going to leave it at that, all right?’

But Morikawa has once again made his feelings clear on the subject at Augusta this week.

After such a painful loss at Bay Hill, he even admitted that he struggled to want to be around anyone, including his partner.

‘We talk about giving people space to be who they are, and at that time, it was for me to be who I was, and I didn’t want to be around anyone. I didn’t even want to be around my wife. I said hi to her after, we hugged, and I just went straight to the locker room.’

He then hit out at the media directly, claiming that media can’t just come up and expect him to answer questions when he’s playing well, implying there was a lack of consistency.

‘I think there needs to be a balance and an ebb and flow between everything. I do want to be here for you guys, but here’s the thing: I’ve been in the top 5 in the world before, and people don’t come up to me and ask me questions. If you guys – you can’t just ask me when I’m playing well.

“You guys should be asking the top 10 players every single week, every single day, and just document it. ‘Then you get a sense of who we are and you get a flow of how that comes to be.’

Check out the full interview here…

There are plenty of rules at Augusta National. Some go under the radar, others are well known around the world.

But there’s one rule that stands out the most and allows patrons to live in the moment, absorb the atmosphere and just enjoy the quality of golf on show.

Find out why this old-fashioned rule is an absolute stroke of genius below…

Right let’s check in on the course and a couple of players are making movements down at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Things are not going so well for leftie Akshay Bhatia, who has picked up two shots on the first and the third holes this morning with a pair of bogeys. Bhatia, who is one of the most creative wedge players on the PGA Tour right now found the sand twice on the first to get his round off to a dismal start.

Justin Thomas is also having a difficult start, having gained a shot on the par-four third hole with a poor wedge shot out of the sand setting him back.

Meanwhile, former champion Hideki Matsuyama has come out to score a birdie on the third to get down to -3 while former US Open champion Wyndham Clark has gone birdie-birdie for his first two holes.

Clark endured a difficult round on Saturday hitting six bogeys, including a five on the par-four 18th.

He’s come out to compete this morning and is now back to +1.

Back in 2012, Rory McIlroy gave a candid, insightful and honest interview to Sky Sports where he walked us through the heartache and pain of his implosion at the 2011 Masters.

McIlroy had a share of the lead for the first three rounds and was primed to advance to win the tournament on Sunday. But a dismal round that saw him shoot 80, saw him fall down the leaderboard, with Charl Schwartzel seizing the opportunity to win the Green Jacket.

The Northern Irishman has had some tough times around Augusta National in the past, and it has appeared that the weight of trying to win the career grand slam and Green Jacket has stopped him from playing his best golf.

McIlroy came agonisingly close to winning here in 2022, finishing T2 behind Scottie Scheffler, in what was his best finish at Augusta.

Someone who also came agonisingly close to winning on this hallowed golf course was Greg Norman, who was upstaged by Nick Faldo in agonising circumstances, back in 1996.

According to McIlroy, the ‘Shark’ gave him some very telling advice following his round at Augusta in 2011.

‘Greg was very good,’ McIlroy told Sky Sports in an interview back in 2012.

‘He can probably relate to me more than anyone else. He said to me that I was 20 when it happened to me, he was 40. He made me realise that it wasn’t going to be my last chance. He told me to be very self centred, create this bubble around you and don’t let anyone affect or interfere with what you need to do.’

Six-time winner, Jack Nicklaus, who sat down to talk with McIlroy about his Masters strategy last week over lunch, told the Northern Irishman he wanted to kick him up the ‘rear-end’.

‘Jack [Nicklaus] was very honest with me and said he wanted to give me a kick in the rear-end. He always said that the most pressure that he felt was the pressure that he put on himself and you have to relish that and make that a challenge for yourself. I had three-and-a-half unbelievable days and nine holes that I’d like to forget. Things didn’t work out the way that I wanted them to but it’s still my favourite tournament in the world.’

Lowry vented his frustrations at reporters during an interview with Sky Sports on Saturday after he was pressed on whether he feels his great mate Rory McIlroy can win the Masters.

Expletives aside, the Irishman was absolutely spot-on with what he said.

At five-under he is still well in contention to launch an attack on the leaderboard today, despite agonisingly having bogeyed his final two holes on Saturday to finish the day at evens.

But after his round, he was asked about McIlroy, snapping back at the Sky reporter: ‘I’m not going to stand here and talk about Rory for 10 minutes. I’m trying to win the tournament, as well.

‘I know that’s what y’all want me to talk about, but I’ve just had a s— finish, I’ve got a chance to win the Masters tomorrow, and I’m going to go hit some balls.’

The conversation then moved on to media duties, something that has been a topical subject of late among many golfers, particularly Collin Morikawa, who lashed back at reporters over having to do media duties.

In fact, according to McIlroy, golfers don’t always have an obligation to speak to the media after their final round.

Lowry continued: ‘We talk about Collin Morikawa a few weeks ago. I think we need time. I think I need half an hour now to sit there and gather my thoughts.

‘I can’t be coming to talk to you guys straight away. It shouldn’t be happening. I don’t agree with it.

‘Tennis players have to talk to the media, but they have half an hour or hour before they have to do it. I feel like we should have the same thing.

‘That’s how I feel. I’m probably going to say something stupid. I probably already have said something stupid because I’m pissed off right now. I’m just going to leave, OK?’

He then proceeded to walk off and headed down to the practice range.

I’ve been looking back through some of my favourite shots from Saturday and have compiled a quick list of some of the best strikes of the day.

I’ve been marvelling at Rory’s chip-in on the second or his six-iron approach on the 15th.

Both are simply sensational efforts but his magic touch around the green on the second was simply sensational.

Here’s McIlroy’s six-iron on the 15th. The stopping power the world No 2 has with his long wedges is simply sensational.

This was another lovely shot for Tyrrell Hatton for a birdie on 15. We saw Patrick Cantlay put two in the drink from near to this angle on Thursday afternoon, so this was weighted perfectly.

Im Sung-jai chipped in twice on Saturday, but considering how deep this bunker was, this is my favourite of the two. Brilliant wedge play from the sand.

Bryson’s final birdie of the day on the 18th capped off a run of three birdies in his final four holes. This texas wedge from over 50-feet out was perfectly weighted.

And lastly how about this for a chip in from LIV star Joaquin Niemann? Interestingly, it came after he had just chunked a chip shot up the hill. He responded immediately, bouncing the ball into the hole to seal victory.

Golfing greatness awaits for one player today.

I’ll leave it to the iconic Jack Nicklaus to set the scene…

US star Brian Campbell has got us underway after teeing off on the first, but gets himself into a spot of bother, sending his first shot right of the fairway, before finding the green on the left side of the green.

You might be wondering why Campbell is playing on his own – but in fact he is not, he’ll be playing with a non-competing marker.

On Saturday, a man called Michael McDermott made a stir at Augusta National after he teed up alongside Tom Kim, who teed off on his own.

It comes as an odd number of players had made the cut this year, meaning that Kim needed a marker to play alongside.

Up steps McDermott, the CEO of a financial services firm in Pennsylvania.

It is one of the quirky and less well-known storylines of Augusta, with McDermott being a member of the club.

Michael McDermott (pictured above)

McDermott and Tom Kim (pictured left and right above)

But he’s not just a part-time hacker. In fact, he is, right now, one of the best members playing at Augusta National and has 10 major victories in the Golf Association of Philadelphia, winning the amateur title in 2008, 2013 and 2016.

McDermot doesn’t have to record a score and didn’t have his name on his caddies back.

He’s also not able to talk to the media during his round.

‘He played great actually,’ Kim said. Hits the ball really far. His irons, sometimes he grabbed one club longer than me. He was a complete baller.’

We’re not quite sure if McDermott has returned to play with Campbell today but he certainly will be playing alongside a marker today!

Two-time champion Scottie Scheffler’s menu got many people talking this week.

He got the ball rolling with Cheeseburger sliders and firecracker shrimp.

The world No 1 then made a funny nod to the hand injury he sustained at Christmas that ruled him out of the early parts of this year’s PGA Tour season. He had been looking to make ravioli for his family but cut his hand open while trying to make the pasta dish. In a nod to the moment, he added Papa Scheff’s meatball and Ravioli bites to his menu.

For the mains, in true Texas style, he had Chilli, Wood-fired Cowboy Ribeye or blackened Redfish.

And for Dinner, Scheffler played it simple with a Warm Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie.

I’d definitely say that is up there with one of the best menus we’ve seen from a Masters Champion.

Rory McIlroy left me stunned yesterday with his 369-yard drive on the par-five second hole.

It was a brilliant shot and his driving just seems to get better and better each year.

Bryson DeChambeau, though, is a machine and the mad scientist has perfected his ball-striking abilities to help him hit the ball longer than anyone else in golf. He spoke earlier in the week of how he has been tinkering with his club heads away from the course to help him get the optimal balance and clubhead speed, to stripe the ball speeds upwards of 190mph.

Both players are two of the biggest hitters in the game, but right now, it is Bryson who is, on average, striking the ball just a little bit further than McIlroy averaging 330 yards to the Northern Irishman’s 324 yards.

Despite that, it was McIlroy who performed better with the big stick on Saturday, with the European Ryder Cup hero averaging 340 yards off the tee, hitting 10 of 14 fairways with his drive.

Bryson, meanwhile, managed an average of 237 yards but was more clinical, hitting 11 out of 14 fairways.

During a range session ahead of their match last year, where Bryson teamed up with fellow LIV star Brooks Koepka and Rory paired up with Scottie Scheffler for a 2v2 match, Bryson joked with Rory about missing out on winning at Pinehurst.

‘I’m trying to get him back for what he did to me at the US Open,’ McIlroy said, sending a barb to Bryson who was chipping next to him.

The American responded hilariously: ‘To be fair you kind of did it to yourself…’

It appears, though, that there is no animosity between the two competitors following Bryson’s victory, with the two-time US Open champion revealing what McIlroy said to him after Pinehurst.

‘No, not really,’ he said when asked whether they had spoken much after the US Open.

‘He said congrats at the British Open — at The Open Championship, excuse me. And that’s pretty much it. We’ve been fine ever since. It’s not really been an issue. It’s just going to be a fun day tomorrow. I’m really excited for the test.’

I really liked how the course was set up on Saturday. The 16th hole’s pin was set up in a particularly difficult spot, with Shane Lowry and Matt McCarty struggling with their tee shots there yesterday.

And it looks like we could be in for a lot more fun again, with today’s pin placements, especially around Amen Corner, set to cause a few headaches for our golfers.

First up, hole No 2 is in an interesting position. The fairway doglegs around from right-to-left and, depending on the shape of the shot you can hit off the tee, players may find it difficult getting the ball up and over the right greenside bunker, with the pin sitting so close to it on the right side of the green.

The fourth hole is another interesting placement, again with a deep and wide greenside bunker fully in play in front of the pin at the front-right of the green. Interestingly the fourth hole was the joint-second hardest hole on the course on Saturday, with 17 players scoring bogeys. Only three players made birdie.

Some players could find themselves in a spot of difficulty on the ninth too, with the hole curving from right-to-left, requiring players to pull a draw in from around the trees to land the ball onto the left side of the fairway and avoid the bunkers on the left.

Around Amen Corner, water is fully in play on all three holes, with greenskeepers setting the pins up close to the hazards just on either side of the greens. The 13th looks particularly challenging, with the green sloping away to the water hazard on the right.

And back to hole No 16, the tee has been moved right to the back of the green and sits just in front of the huge sand trap to the back right of the hole. That presents a lot of trouble for any player getting stuck in the sand. The notorious green on 16 slopes down towards the water hazard and players in the bunker will want to be very careful when playing out of the sand not to overcook their shot.

It’s been a simply sensational week of golf so far and Saturday delivered perhaps one of the best days at a major in a long time.

Rory McIlroy stormed to take the clubhouse lead and starts ahead of Bryson DeChambeau by two shots on Sunday. It was a sensational performance from the world No 2, who became the first man in the history at Augusta National to card six consecutive threes during his opening six holes.

His chip in on the second for eagle will go down as the shot of the day, but let’s not forget his approach on 15. Some online have said it bore an uncanny likeness to Tiger in 2011.

Bryson was equally impressive yesterday coming in two shots behind McIlroy, but it was his short irons that perhaps let him down a little and a couple of missed putts stopped him from coming in with a better score.

Despite that, he’ll come into the day riding high on a stunning finish, birdieing three of the final four holes of his third round, which included a phenomenal texas wedge from off the green, which he rolled 50-feet into the hole.

There were plenty of other incredible storylines from Saturday. Justin Rose, the leader after 36 holes, just couldn’t hold on to the top spot as his round unravelled due to some errant putting.

He is, though, still in contention, alongside Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry and interestingly Jason Day all at five-under ahead of the fourth round.

Ludvig Aberg, who finished T2 on his Masters Debut here last year, has rallied after toiling with his game all week to finish tied at six-under with former Masters Champion Patrick Reed – who snuck up the leaderboard with a classy 69 on Saturday.

And then there’s Canadian Corey Conners, who sits in third place at eight-under. While Bryson and Rory have been getting all the headlines, Connors has been quietly going about his business and has showcased his excellent ball-striking abilities.

Check this out for an approach…

Looks like conditions are going to be perfect for scoring today at The Masters.

Yesterday there were a few big scores, with Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson both excelling out there.

Forecasts coming out of Augusta right now are expecting not a whole lot of wind around the course today, compared to Saturday’s blustery conditions, with maximum gusts of 8mph expected later on in the afternoon.

The sun is also shining on this illustrious golf course with temperatures set to rise to 21ºc.

Balmy weather for a game of golf, don’t you think?

That means that the greens are likely to be running a little firmer later on in the day which our late starters, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed and Corey Conners may have to watch out for.

All eyes are well and truly on Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau this afternoon. Our leaders will go out at 2:30 PM EDT / 7:30 PM BST later this evening.

Corey Connors and Patrick Reed, who snuck up the leaderboard on Saturday afternoon will proceed them at 2:20 PM EDT / 7:20 PM BST.

Meanwhile, Brian Campbell will get proceedings underway as the first player to tee off in just under an hours time at 9:40 AM EDT / 2:40 PM BST.

Here are my featured groups for Masters Sunday…

• Brian Campbell – 9:40 AM EDT / 2:40 PM BST
• Hideki Matsuyama / Akshay Bhatia – 9:50 AM EDT / 2:50 PM BST
• Justin Thomas / Min Woo Lee – 10:00 AM EDT / 3:00 PM BST
• Patrick Cantlay / Wyndham Clark – 10:20 AM EDT / 3:20 PM BST
• Matt Fitzpatrick / Nick Taylor – 11:00 AM EDT / 4:00 PM BST
• Davis Riley / Tommy Fleetwood – 11:20 AM EDT / 4:20 PM BST
• Aaron Rai / Sahith Theegala – 11:40 AM EDT / 4:40 PM BST
• Joaquin Niemann / Jon Rahm – 12:20 PM EDT / 5:20 PM BST
• Jordan Spieth / Max Greyserman – 12:40 PM EDT / 5:40 PM BST
• Tyrrell Hatton / Matt McCarty – 12:50 PM EDT / 5:50 PM BST
• Collin Morikawa / Viktor Hovland – 1:10 PM EDT / 6:10 PM BST
• Justin Rose / Zach Johnson – 1:50 PM EDT / 6:50 PM BST
• Scottie Scheffler / Shane Lowry – 2:00 PM EDT / 7:00 PM BST
• Ludvig Aberg / Jason Day – 2:10 PM EDT / 7:10 PM BST
• Corey Conners / Patrick Reed – 2:20 PM EDT / 7:20 PM BST
• Rory McIlroy / Bryson DeChambeau – 2:30 PM EDT / 7:30 PM BST

Hello! And happy Masters Sunday!

We’ve got an exciting day in store, with several players in contention to claim the Green Jacket at Augusta this afternoon.

Saturday delivered as one of the best and most enthralling days of golf I have personally watched in a long time.

But with at least nine players able to mount an attack on the top of the leaderboard, I’m expecting to see a few fireworks today.