Rory McIlroy defends Masters title on thrilling final day to claim sixth major crown and join golfing pantheon - 'I don't make it easy!'

Rory McIlroy wrote his name into golfing folklore by becoming just the fourth player to retain the Masters title after an unforgettable final round at Augusta National. The Northern Irishman finished one shot clear of Scottie Scheffler to keep the green jacket on his shoulders for another year and seal the sixth major crown of his career.

Rory McIlroy held his nerve in a thrilling final round at Augusta National to become just the fourth player to successfully defend the Masters title.

The Northern Irishman held off a charging Scottie Scheffler by one shot with a round of 71 that was enough for him to join a legendary golfing elite.

Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods were the only players to have successfully defended the title at Augusta until McIlroy’s effort.

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It was a magnificent response to his stuttering performance on Saturday, when he blew a six-shot lead to share the lead with Cameron Young overnight.

There were some early nerves when he followed his birdie on three with a double bogey on four and bogey on six.

But the 36-year-old was almost flawless from then on, picking up four birdies and showing steely composure on the back nine.

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That was until the final hole, when he had to navigate the trees and a bunker before eventually knocking in a bogey and celebrating by throwing his head back and roaring into the sky.

A year on from finally completing the career Grand Slam by beating Justin Rose to claim the green jacket for the first time, McIlroy again had to see off the challenge of the English veteran.

Rose, who began the day on -8, led for a spell after a strong start but had to settle for another close call as he finished tied for third with Young, Russell Henley and Tyrrell Hatton.

Shane Lowry’s challenge quickly faded, however, with the Irishman starting the day dreaming of glory on -9 before plummeting down the leaderboard to finish tied for 30th place on -1.

'I don't make it easy'

McIlroy admitted after Sunday's triumph that he didn't "make it easy" to successfully defend his Masters crown and that it would have been a "bitter pill to swallow" had he not held onto his record-breaking lead at the halfway point.

"I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win The Masters and the Grand Slam, then this year I realised it's just really difficult to win The Masters. I tried to convince myself it was both," McIlroy said after winning his sixth major title.

"Yeah, just incredible. I obviously did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday. I don't think I would have believed anyone if they said to me all you have to do is shoot even-par for the weekend and you'll win.

"I definitely thought I was going to need to go out there and at least shoot a couple of under-par scores. I just had to hang in there. Yeah, just absolutely delighted to be able to get it done.

"Having a six-shot lead going into the weekend, it would have been a bitter pill to swallow if I wasn't able to get myself over the finish line."

McIlroy claimed his sixth majors title as he successfully defended his Masters crown

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The two-time Masters winner continued: "I don't make it easy. I used to make it easy back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots.

"No, it's just hard. It's hard to win golf tournaments, especially around here. You've had maybe a couple of runaway winners over the years, but it always seems to be a very tight finish at this golf course. I think it's the nature of the golf course, it's the nature of what's at stake.

"I certainly didn't think I was home and dry after Friday night, and I knew I still needed work to do. But I still thought I would need to shoot under-par to get the job done, but thankfully I did enough."

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