The 2026 Masters Tournament saw a grandstand finish as Rory McIlroy came out as the winner. The golfer fired a score of 1-under 71 to finish 1-shot ahead of Scottie Scheffler to claim the green jacket.
How much money did he earn, though?
McIlroy, the World No.2, entered the tournament this year as the defending champion. He was aiming for a historic repeat as he took to the course on Thursday.
He started well and fired an opening round score of 67. On Friday, he carded a 7-under par round, which included 9 birdies. This saw him take a 6-shot lead into Saturday, the largest 36-hole lead in Masters Tournament history.
The moving day saw him stutter a little. A 1-over par score in the third round, followed by impressive performances from the chasers, saw his lead vanish. He entered the final round on Sunday tied with Cameron Young for first place.
In this, he once again had a slight bump. A double bogey on the 4th hole was followed by a bogey on the 6th. He did bounce back with back-to-back birdies on 7th and 8th holes.
On the second nine, the golfer remained calm. Successive birdies on the 12th and 13th holes saw him go 2-under par for the day. He arrived at the 18th hole with a 2-shot lead. Despite hitting the tree and then finding the bunker with his first two shots, he did land on the greens on his 3rd shot.
This left him with 2 putts to win. While he failed to make a birdie, he tapped in from close range for a bogey to claim his 2nd straight victory.
The Masters Tournament is one of the biggest events in golf history. Played at the famous Augusta National, it has a huge purse pool.
Last year, McIlroy pocketed $4.2 million from the $21 million purse. In the past few years, the purse has kept on increasing.
In 2023, Jon Rahm made $3.2 million from the $18 million purse. A year later, Scottie Scheffler picked up a winning cheque of $3.6 million from the $20 million pool.
This year, the pool prize was increased again. It saw a $1.5 million hike from the 2025 one as the organizers announced a purse of $22.5 million.
This meant that McIlroy not only took home his second green jacket, but he also took home $4.5 million from the huge purse.
Rory McIlroy was the big winner once again. The Northern Irish golfer clinched his 2nd straight Masters Tournament title with a narrow 1-shot win. He thus once again took the huge share of the prize pool at the Augusta National.
Here is the detailed breakdown of the prize:
Meanwhile, the players who did not make the cut also made some money. As per reports, those who failed to qualify for the final 36 holes received $25,000 each.
Rory McIlroy successfully defended his title this Sunday as he finished 1-stroke ahead of Scottie Scheffler to win the 2026 Masters Tournament. With that win, the 36-year-old joined an exclusive club.
Before entering the tournament, McIlroy was aiming to do something that had not been done since 2002. Since the 2002 Masters Tournament, the event had failed to produce a repeat winner.
That year, Tiger Woods claimed his 3rd green jacket and his second straight win by finishing 3-shots ahead of Retief Goosen. A year earlier, in 2001, he completed the 'Tiger Slam' by finishing 2-shots ahead of David Duval.
Until this edition, only Woods, Sir Nick Faldo (1989, 1990) and Jack Nicklaus (1965, 1966) had retained the green jacket. McIlroy is now the 4th player in history to repeat as champion at the Augusta National and thus joined an exclusive list.
McIlroy also tied Faldo, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson on 6 major championship wins. He is now tied with them for the 7th most majors in golf history.
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