In 2025 Rory McIlroy won The Masters, completing the career Grand Slam in the process.
A year on, and the defending champion was firmly in contention to win it again in his bid to become only the fourth player to claim back-to-back titles.
Another rare achievement that would come McIlroy’s way with victory would be joining the list of wire-to-wire Masters winners (inclusive of co-leads).
McIlroy co-led with Sam Burns after the opening round, with both players on five under, before a late birdie blitz on Friday saw him open up a six-shot advantage – the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history.
While that seemed all but unassailable, even at that relatively early stage, McIlroy was pegged back in the third round, partly as he faltered around Amen Corner and partly because of some low scores from his rivals.
At one point, McIlroy even fell to second, with Cameron Young briefly holding the outright lead, but by the end of the day, he had wrestled back a semblance of control to share the lead with Young at 11 under.
So, which other players was McIlroy bidding to emulate in 2026?
In total, there have been five wire-to-wire winners of The Masters where they had the solo lead after each round, and six where they co-led for at least one round. Here are the details.
Horton Smith (1934)
Horton Smith won the first edition of The Masters
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The very first Masters, then called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, saw a wire-to-wire winner, with Horton Smith co-leading after the first round, before opening a one-shot gap on two players at the halfway stage.
A round of 70 maintained that advantage over Billy Burke after 54 holes, before he held off Craig Wood by one with a 72 in the final round.
Craig Wood (1941)
Craig Wood went wire-to-wire in 1941
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The eighth edition of The Masters saw the first wire-to-wire winner that didn’t involve a co-lead, courtesy of Craig Wood.
The American made a flying start, leading four players by five after the first round, and though his lead was down to three at the halfway stage, he only had Byron Nelson breathing down his neck.
A 71 was enough for Wood to maintain that gap…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Latest from Golf Monthly…