“I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off” - McIlroy

Rory McIlroy was thrilled to win his second Masters in front of his Mum and Dad and make his “outlandish” boyhood dreams come true.

“Yeah, incredible,” he said in Butler Cabin after a closing 71 gave him a one-shot win over Scottie Scheffler on 12-under par and allowed him to become just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters and join Nick Faldo as the most successful European of the modern era with six Major wins.  

“It's the second major my Mum’s been at and the second Major win. She was at the Open at Hoylake in 2014.

“So there was a part, there was a piece of them that didn't want to come this year because they thought, Okay, we didn't come last year. Maybe that was the reason.  “But I'm so glad that they got to experience this today. We're all going to have a great time tonight.”

As for his fans back home, his message was simple.

“I just thank you for all the support. I was a little kid with a dream, and the support that I have from my family, my friends, and everyone back home.  

“Some people probably thought it was outlandish to dream of the things that I wanted to do, but I had amazing support from back home, and I can't thank them all enough for that.”

As for his final round, he was proud to fight back from playing his first six holes in two over.

“After the sixth hole, I was like, Okay, if I can get back to even par for the day, which I did with the birdies on seven and eight, I knew I was going to be right in there, going into the back nine.

“So I was keeping an eye all day (on the leaderboards). There were a few guys who made a run, but nothing like what Justin did last year, without that 66.

“So some good play by me, and unfortunately, the guys didn't really come out for me this year either.”

It took him 17 years to win his first green jacket, but just 12 months to get his second.

“I just can't believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and, you know, I get two in a row,” he said. “It's just sort of the way. I don't know.  

“I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off.

“It was a tough weekend. I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday, but just so, so happy to hang in there and get the job done.

On racing six clear and losing that record lead with a third-round 73, he was proud to fight back, especially after following that birdie at the third with a double bogey at the fourth  “It felt pretty similar to last year,” he said. “I made a double early on the first hole last year. I made a double on four this year, and then I played flawless golf after that.

“I made four birdies and no bogeys going to the last tee, knowing that I had the two-shot lead. It's nice to have that two-shot cushion instead of the one, like I had last year.  

“But yeah, I just looked at the board after I made the bogey on six, and I think I went back to nine under.

"At that point, I said, Okay, if I can get to 14 under, I think I've got a really good chance of winning this tournament.  “I didn't quite get there. I got the 13. But, you know, 13 was good enough standing on the 18th.”

As for the key shots, he felt they came around Amen Corner.

“I think the tee shot on 12, and then the tee shot on 13, just to give me the option to go for the green and two,” he said.

“I struggled with that tee shot all week. I was up in the pine straw there one too many times, and I had made a really good, committed swing off the 13th tee, and that enabled me to go for the green and two and to make a birdie there, following the birdie on 12. That was massive.”