While neither man left Augusta National with a green jacket, Sunday was still a special day for Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa.
Paired together for the 1:50 p.m. tee time, the duo combined to shoot 13 under for the day — 12 birdies, two eagles and just three bogeys. The 64 for McIlroy tied the lowest final-round score in Masters history, while Morikawa’s 67 vaulted him to a solo-fifth finish.
“Collin is a great guy,” McIlroy said. “It was a great pairing for me today, and happy that we both played well.”
And while their superb Sunday play was exciting, it was the way they finished that sent roars through the grounds.
Both men found the bunker right of the 18th green, and it looked like par was the best score they would muster to finish their rounds.
McIlroy hit first and used the contours of the green to let the ball trundle down the hill toward the cup. He judged it perfectly, and the ball fell in the hole for an unlikely birdie finish.
Morikawa was next to play, and although he took a slightly different route to the hole, the result was all the same.
“That’s as happy as I’ve ever been on a golf course right there,” McIlroy said. “That was an incredible — I’ve never heard roars like on the 18th green. It was really cool.”
