Genius McIlroy moment behind Masters’ ‘greatest’ shot; shock reply sparks fairness debate — Talking Points

After Rory McIlroy successfully defended his green jacket in an unforgettable final round of the 90th Masters, some fascinating insight has defined the one key moment that assured victory for the career grand slam winner.

McIlroy’s ability to conquer one of the most daunting shots in golf came via the help of both one of his closest friends and the word’s of a legend from 17 years ago that stuck in his mind.

FOX SPORTS, available on Kayo Sports, is streaming The 2026 PGA Tour LIVE & Exclusive | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

Two of the game’s most prominent voices believe it will go down as in history as one of the greatest ever Masters moments.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Jason Day came up short in quest for a green jacket after starting the final round three shots off the lead.

Despite the disappointing end, Fox Golf expert analyst Paul Gow believes things are trending in the right direction for Australia’s contingent.

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler almost pulled off a Masters miracle, but was left annoyed by what he believed was an unfair move by tournament officials on Friday.

A former champion’s outburst led to more scrutiny for the LIV Golf contingent, despite being redeemed by the weekend surges of a couple of stars.

For the second year in a row, there was also heartbreak for a veteran, who is second only to Greg Norman for the amount of times he has come so close to conquering Augusta without ever donning a green jacket.

Scroll down for the biggest talking points from the final round of the 2026 Masters!

READ MORE

MAGIC McILROY: Fresh Rory thrillride stuns as Masters history sealed in final hole epic

FEATURE: Through Masters hell, McIlroy’s dad had one message. Now his haunted house is wonderland

‘LITTLE KID WITH A DREAM’: Emotional Rory reveals touching family detail after Masters triumph

INSIDE ‘THE MOMENT WHERE RORY WON THE MASTERS’

There was a moment on just about every hole of Rory McIlroy’s back nine that made patrons and viewers alike.

But there was none that were more pivotal in his charge towards a second Masters triumph than his tee shot on the iconic par 3 12th.

‘Golden Bell’ is the place where green jacket dreams go to die.

With Rae’s Creek running in front of the elevated green, many balls have rolled down the vicious slope and into the water at crucial moments over the years.

Just about every player in the world has made a costly blunder on the 155-yard hole.

Even Tiger Woods, as defending champion in 2020, made a ten there after dumping three balls in the creek.

“That’s such a difficult hole. That shot into the 12th is one of the hardest par 3s in the world,” Fox Golf expert analyst Paul Gow said.

“The wind swirls down in that little area and the players throw up as much grass as they want, but they don’t really know what’s happening with the pine trees there.”

The reputation it possesses makes McIlroy’s 9-iron to set-up a defining birdie all the more extraordinary.

All of the world’s finest believe they have some trick to tackling the hole that sits in the middle of Amen Corner.

In his winner’s press conference, McIlroy revealed that the words of an eight-time major champion rung in his ears when he reached the 12th tee.

“I played a practice round with Tom Watson in 2009, and he said to me on the 12th tee he always waited until he felt where the wind should be and then just hit it,” said McIlroy.

“You know, just hit it as soon as you can.

“That’s what I did on 12. It was all over the place. When I stood up on the tee, it felt like it was off the right, and I looked at the 11th flag, it was blowing right to left.

“But I was patient, and I waited to feel where the wind should have been coming from, and I knew it was just a perfect three-quarter nine-iron.”

Eagle-eyed observers noticed that it was not only McIlroy’s sharp-thinking that led to what will go down as one of the most iconic shots in Augusta’s storied history.

McIlroy’s caddie Harry Diamond normally quietly operates in the back nine.

Unlike Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Adam Scott’s former caddie Steve Williams, most golf fans do not know a lot about Diamond.

He is one of McIlroy’s closest friends and took over from J.P. Fitzgerald who was on the bag for McIlroy’s four major victories before he finally claiming a green jacket.

The pair grew up together and Diamond was a top amateur golfer himself.

But their close relationship meant that when McIlroy was enduring a lean run in the majors before last year’s Masters, the finger was often pointed at him having a friend as caddie.

Those dissenting voices have fallen silent, however, as Diamond showed his worth on the 12th tee.

“I saw something today on the 12th hole at such a pivotal moment,” former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said on Live from The Masters.

“We all know how difficult it is on that 12th hole to judge where the wind is.

“People have written books on it. Looks what Harry does here. He moves forward.

“I think they believe the wind is down off the left, but they just want to get it confirmed.

“Harry is taking control of the situation here and what he says is ‘yeah, that’s where it should be. Now, it’s back to where it should be because it does swirl in that corner’.

“And that was the basis for Rory to quickly hit, like Lee Trevino, the club came out, he’s a very fast player, the decision was made and off he went and executed.

“This will go down as one of the greatest shots ever in the history of The Masters.

“It was such a pivotal time in the round. Rory was on the gallop. He’d made a great par on 10 and 11, and he was getting control of the tournament there.

“For me, that summed up a lot about where Rory is and the relationship with Harry, and how much your caddie can be influential in key moments.”

Fellow commentator Brandel Chamblee added: “This was the moment where Rory won The Masters. He wasn’t clinical, he was surgical.”

READ MORE

‘INFANTILE BASKET CASE’: Golf villain shredded as ‘jerk’ 46yo loses plot in all-time dummy spit

‘ONE OF US’: Star’s ‘psycho’ Masters meltdown stuns… and comes at staggering cost

‘DEFINITELY A PASS’: VERDICT ISSUED ON AUSSIES

Australia’s hopes of celebrating a second green jacket winner were dashed before 6am on Monday morning AEST.

Jason Day, who teed off shortly after 4am AEST, started the final round only three shots off the lead after a promising four-under par 68 yesterday.

But two blunders on the front nine proved fatal – namely a double bogey on the seventh after a horrendous lie in the lip of a bunker.

The former world No.1 eventually carded a 75 without a single birdie.

He parred the last 11 holes to fall seven shots shy of McIlroy.

The caveat of the 38-year-old’s disappointing final day is that he locked in a return to Augusta next year with a top 12 finish.

A crucial sand save at the last kept him in a share of 12th alongside past champions Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed as well as five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and former world No.1 Patrick Cantlay.

“Obviously it’s nice to be able to come back next year but a little disappointing,” Day told reporters at Augusta National.

“I know I can play well around here. It’s just obviously when you get the opportunities, just take them.

“Sometimes you have to take them. Sometimes you have to take some unnecessary risk and sometimes you got to take a step back and play the way you need to play.

“Unfortunately I just didn’t play the way that I needed to.”

Day has been a nearly man at Augusta.

The 2015 PGA champion has five top tens from 15 starts at The Masters, including a runner-up finish alongside countryman Adam Scott on debut in 2011.

But despite an 11-year major drought hanging over him, Fox Golf expert analyst Paul Gow believes the week was a success for Day.

“I think it’s a good effort,” Gow said. “He wasn’t on song with his irons and he made a few mistakes here and there.

“It’s definitely hard to claw your way back when you make a double bogey on seven. He bogeyed five and plunked it in the bunker on seven.

“Just couldn’t get any momentum going.

“I think it’s definitely a pass for him,” Gow added.

“This is six cuts made out of eight events (for the year) now. He’s trending, there’s no doubt.

“He’s got a little bit of work to do on his swing.

“He’s missing some balls to the right we’ve seen this week and all of a sudden, you’ll get a snap hook out of it.

“So, there’s some work to be done on his golf swing, but his short game and scrambling is fantastic.”

Scott was the only other Australian to make the cut and the 2013 champion pieced together an impressive weekend.

The veteran shot consecutive rounds of 70 to come in a tie for 24th, and while following Scott around the fairways, Gow liked what he saw.

“He’s playing extremely well,” the former PGA Tour professional said. “He said his irons yesterday were the best he’s hit them in a long, long time.

“As long as his driver behaves itself and he can get that under control, he’ll be fine.

“This week, watching him a lot, he just didn’t hole enough putts.

“He hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. They hit the edges or they just rolled by.

“But I think it’ll be a big year for the 45-year-old, turning 46 this year, trying to compete with the young fellas.”

Disappointingly for Australian fans, Min Woo Lee and Cameron Smith both missed the cut.

Top-ranked Australian Lee came into the week as a popular choice as an outsider to win the green jacket.

The hopes quickly unravelled as he produced his worst ever performance in his five Masters appearances – shooting 78 and 77 and only making two birdies across 36 holes.

“Interesting with Min Woo this week, he came in with high expectations,” Gow said.

“He had a second and a third. He was eighth on the FedEx Cup and he’s 25th in the world. He’s going really, really well.

“I think it’s all good for him. This week is a bit of learning curve for him. 26 years of age and he’s learning every time he gets to play The Masters.

“He’s getting to that level now where he’s preparing for majors championships around other events on the PGA Tour.”

Smith, meanwhile, missed the weekend for the sixth straight time at a major.

The LIV star was not out of the tournament with an opening round 74, but a Friday 77 ensured he missed the cut by three shots.

“Cam, he’s a work in progress,” Gow said.

“He’s not quite hitting how he would like to. He’s scrambling.

“The first day he said he didn’t hit very well and this is a golf course that bites you if you’re not quite on.

“He’s a gritty Queenslander and he tries really hard. I think there’s a few things in his game he has to look at.

“He’s got the ball going left and right. The swing is not quite where it needs to be.

“It’s not the work ethic. He’s practising hard, but he’s not putting it all together at the right times.”

‘HE HAS A POINT’: SCHEFFLER CALLS OUT UNFAIR MOVE

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was left ruing unbalanced conditions across the opening two rounds at Augusta after his bid to pull off a record Masters comeback came up agonisingly short.

Scheffler, who had trailed eventual Masters champion Rory McIlroy by a massive 12 shots after Friday’s second round, finished just one adrift of the Northern Irishman after Sunday’s gripping final round shootout.

The 29-year-old two-time Masters champion appeared poised to eclipse the previous biggest 36-hole comeback in Masters history, belonging to Jack Burke, who made up eight strokes to claim the green jacket in 1956.

But a bogey-free four-under-par 68 left Scheffler one shy of McIlroy’s winning total, leaving the American pondering what might have been had it not been for a difficult second round on Friday where he made four bogeys in a two-over-par 74.

“I’d say Friday probably hurt the most in terms of my chances of winning,” said Scheffler, who felt that moves to soften greens after Thursday’s opening round did not benefit all players.

“Going out on Friday, whatever they did to the greens to soften them up, they did some stuff, and I just wasn’t able to take advantage of that going on early on Friday,” he said.

“I would have liked it to have been a little bit more equal in terms of the firmness on Thursday and Friday.”

Scheffler was in a grizzly mood across the weekend despite becoming the first person since records began in 1942 to go bogey free across the third and fourth rounds.

His costly Friday was certainly bugging him as having to play a catch-up left him frustrated.

When a reporter asked after his 65 on Saturday what he felt like his score could have been, Scheffler replied: “That’s just a terrible question. Next question. Awful.”

It is not the first time Scheffler has shut down questions in a press conference, but it is uncommon for him to publicly express emotion, especially negative ones.

Former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said on Live from The Masters that he believes Scheffler “has a point” about the conditions, however.

The course clearly played tougher in the opening round and with warm and dry weather creating a perfect forecast in Augusta, tournament officials opted to not let Mother Nature takes its course.

Greenskeepers were spotted with the hoses out on the putting surfaces on Friday morning, and the soaking they received was followed by a birdie fest from McIlroy later that afternoon.

“Rory raced to birdie six of the last seven holes on the second day,” he continued. “Certainly the first day no one was racing to that kind of finish as the course played really difficult on the afternoon of the first day.

“So, he got the wrong side of the draw in that regard and the point that he’s making is – and we all remarked on it – we all expected the greens to be rock and hard, and they certainly were softer on day two.

“A lot of guys took advantage on day two and it wasn’t an even draw. I think he does have a point there.”

Fellow commentator Brandel Chamblee disagreed, arguing that Scheffler had no right to be complaining about the conditions earlier in the tournament.

“It wasn’t because the golf course was soft that he missed four putts from four to eight feet,” Chamblee proclaimed.

“It wasn’t because the golf course was soft that he hit the ball in the water on 13 trying to turn it around the corner from 245 (yards).

“Certainly wasn’t because the golf course was soft that from the middle of the fairway, 241 (yards), he knocked it over the green on 15 and into the water.”

‘IT IS CRAZY’: LIV CRITICS GIVEN AMMO

Sergio Garcia’s meltdown on the second tee was seized on by critics of LIV Golf as emblematic of the breakaway tour’s lack of competitiveness at Augusta.

Before touching on the temper tantrum, Tyrell Hatton produced a sizzling finish after starting the final day at 4-under to sit as the clubhouse leader for much of Sunday at 10-under.

The notion that LIV competitors cannot contend in the majors had previously been put to bed by Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, with the latter finishing at 5-under for the event.

But it is indisputable that this Masters was a rough one for former major winnings now on the LIV Tour, with Garcia’s breakdown on the second hole symbolic of a horror at Augusta.

DeChambeau had been in stellar form leading in but missed the cut. Dustin Johnson finished even with the card after a 3-over finish on the final day. Jon Rahm was one shot worse.

Garcia, who was forced to use a 3-wood off the tee after snapping his driver on the second, finished at 8-over, while Charl Schwartzel fared worst of those who made the cut when signing off at 12-over for the Masters.

Cam Smith? Ouch. The alarm bells are ringing for the 2022 British Open champion who has now missed the past six cuts in majors, with his exemptions running out next year.

But Bubba Watson also had a free weekend and Phil Mickelson did not make the start line.

The 2023 champion Rahm, who at least found some form on Sunday when scoring 4-under, said he would alter his preparation for Augusta in years to come after a searching week.

“It is crazy. (I am) the same person. Even though I made some mistakes, I was able to rectify a few of them and have a good round. Too bad about that bogey on 18,” he said.

“(I did) a lot of what not to do. I played really bad those first three days. There are definitely some things I am going to change going forward, preparation wise and what to do.”

Rahm did not elaborate on the changes he would make, and also pointed out that the firmness of the Masters made it difficult to take lessons from this tournament.

“But it is hard to say how much to learn because I don’t think we have ever seen a Masters this firm and I don’t know how long it is going to be until we see one this firm again, both on the tee and on the green,” he said.

“Have you ever seen, looking down at the actual property, how yellow the patron areas are and how brown and purple a lot of parts of the green and fairway are? But I definitely have things in mind for future editions when I get to this level.”

Garcia would not confirm whether he received a warning, which appeared to be the case, but at least he fronted up for a chat afterwards, not that he said too much.

The 2017 Masters champion, who at one stage carried the bag of his playing partner Rahm, said his frustration had been building “for a year” and was a result of “bad shots”.

“Obviously I am not super proud of it but sometimes it happens. It is a combination of everything. It is what it is. I just have to deal with it,” he said.

VETERAN’S CLASSY RESPONSE TO HEARTBREAK

Justin Rose expressed disappointment at failing to shed his “nearly man” tag at the Masters as a final-round lead slipped out of his grasp down the back nine on Sunday.

Rose, 45, has never won the Masters despite finishing runner-up at Augusta National on three occasions, including two nail-biting playoff defeats.

On Sunday, Rose started brightly and seized a two-shot lead at the turn, but ultimately had to settle for a share of third after three bogeys on the back nine.

“Just a chance that got away obviously,” Rose told reporters, describing the latest loss as “another little stinger.”

“I was by no means free and clear and was nowhere close to having the job done — but I was right in position,” he said.

Having started the final day three shots off the lead, the English veteran scored a scintillating 32 on the front nine.

With overnight leaders Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young faltering, Rose found himself with a two-shot lead at the turn.

“I was really in control, first ten holes… And the mentality was to run through the finish line, not just try and get it done,” he said.

But as he approached the daunting section of Augusta National known as “Amen Corner”, Rose’s challenge came undone, with bogeys on the 11th and the par-three 12th, where he fluffed a chip from the fringe.

He appeared to have restored his momentum by reaching the par-five 13th green in two. But his eagle attempt ran wildly past the hole, and he failed to even make birdie.

“Clearly too aggressive with it,” he reflected.

“Maybe just lost my patience there a little bit off the back of two bogeys… Those are the little things that end up costing you,” Rose told Sky Sports.

Despite a birdie at 15, another bogey on the 17th meant Rose’s long wait for the green jacket continues.

Just 12 months ago, Rose had lost a playoff to McIlroy. In 2017, he also lost an Augusta playoff, to Sergio Garcia.

While those sudden death losses felt like a “flick of a coin,” this year “was an opportunity to do better, so obviously that is frustrating for sure,” said Rose.

He expressed gratitude for the vocal support he received from the crowd. “I think people just know I play hard, I try hard, I’ve been close,” said Rose. “I’ll come back next year and give everything, of course,” he said.