RORY MCILROY'S PRIZE MONEY REVEALED AS HE'S HANDED A HOST OF AUGUSTA PRIVILEGES

Rory McIlroy is in line for a significant financial windfall following his victory at The Masters

Rory McIlroy has won a Masters green jacket after an extraordinary final Sunday at Augusta, with the rewards for the greatest triumph of his career set to flow for years to come.

McIlroy hailed a “dream come true” after beating Justin Rose in a Play-Off to win the 89th Masters and finally complete the career Grand Slam.

McIlroy threatened to squander a five-shot lead with eight holes to play before holding his nerve to birdie the first extra hole after an extraordinary final day at Augusta National.

“It’s a dream come true,” McIlroy said. “I have dreamt about that moment for as long as I can remember.

“Watching Tiger (Woods) here in 1997 do what he did, winning his first green jacket, I think that inspired so many of my generation to want to emulate what he did.

“It feels incredible. This is my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time.

“The last 10 years coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulder and trying to achieve it, I wonder what we’re going to talk about going into next year.

“I’m absolutely honoured, thrilled and proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”

World No.2 McIlroy won $4.2m (£3.21m) in prize money from his Masters win, while he also closed in on No.1 Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world golf rankings.

His Masters glory comes with a host of privileges that ensures he will always have a date in his diary at Augusta for as long as he is playing golf.

He will host the annual dinner for former champions ahead of the 2026 Masters and will get a chance to select the menu for that event.

Along with his green jacket, McIlroy will get a replica of the Masters trophy he held aloft in an emotional trophy presentation at Augusta on Sunday evening.

He will have been presented with a Masters gold medal, with this tradition dating back to the first Masters in 1934. The 3.5-inch medal features a raised image of the clubhouse on the front.

McIlroy will be presented with a locket at the 2026 champions dinner, which is said to be a gift for the wife or partner of the champion.

He will be a lifelong member of Augusta National Club and will have his own locker in the champions area from this point forward.

McIlroy will also have the chance to practise on the ‘champions only’ golf range at Augusta every time he returns and he will also gain entry to all Major Championships for the next five years.

Another tradition sees the defending champion bring a guest to play a round at Augusta on the Sunday before the Masters gets under way, with 2024 champion Scheffler playing a round with his mother in 2025.

Once the emotion of this incredible win subsides, McIlroy will set his sights on more Major glory at the PGA Championship, which gets under way on May 15 at Quail Hollow Club.

- Kevin Palmer

SIZZLING SCHAUFFELE GRABS FIRST ROUND LEAD AT PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

USA TODAY Sports 

 A rampaging Xander Schauffele powered to the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard on Thursday, firing a record-equaling opening round nine-under 62 at Valhalla Golf Club, as the Olympic champion looked to atone for a shock loss at the .

Out with the early starters Schauffele set the target that no one in the 156-player field could match. Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala came the closest, returning six-under 65s to sit three back.

Not even the two hottest golfers on the planet, world number one Scottie Scheffler and number two Rory McIlroy, could muster a challenge on a day of ideal scoring conditions at the defenseless Valhalla Golf Club.

McIlroy, coming off back-to-back PGA Tour wins, turned in a scrappy five-under 66 to settle in four off the pace. New dad Scheffler, with four victories in his last five starts including a second Masters Green Jacket, lurks one further adrift after returning a 67.

Schauffele, who held a final round two-stroke lead at Quail Hollow on Sunday before losing by five shots to McIlroy, was a man on a mission in Louisville, matching the men's major championship low score for a second time.

Despite an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo and a proven ability to go low, the 30-year-old American has yet to win a major and is without a win since the 2022 Scottish Open.

While there is a lot of golf to be played, the world number three signaled he plans to end both droughts with a brilliant error-free opening round that matched his first round effort at last year's U.S. Open.

Only two other men have returned 62s at a major, Rickie Fowler, also in the first round at the 2023 U.S. Open, and Branden Grace, in the third round at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

"I'll take a 62 in any major any day," said Schauffele. "Not winning makes you want to win more, as weird as that is.

"The top feels far away, and I feel like I have a lot of work to do."

Coming off titles at the Zurich Open and Wells Fargo, McIlroy carried that momentum onto the first tee. He rolled in a six-footer for a birdie on his opening hole, the par five 10th, then picked up a second at the 13th to briefly join a crowd at the top of the leaderboard.

But the Northern Irishman, who announced on Monday that he had filed for divorce, stalled after the early burst. He took a bogey at the 17th before hitting his stride again after the turn by carding four birdies, including three straight from the fifth.

"Not a pretty 66," summed up McIlroy, who won the last of his four majors in 2014 on the same Valhalla layout. "I sort of felt like it was pretty scrappy for the most part.

"I thought I got a lot out of my game today.

"Not really happy with how I played but at least happy with the score."

After taking three weeks off to be with his wife, who was about to give birth, there were worries Scheffler would need time to shake off some competitive rust before returning to his dominating ways.

He wasted no time dispelling those concerns, holing out from 167-yards on the par four first for an eagle and adding a birdie at the fourth to get to three-under.

But the 27-year-old American could not sustain that level, mixing three birdies with a pair of bogeys over the next 14 holes.

Defending champion and LIV Golf standard-bearer Brooks Koepka, bidding to become the tournament's first repeat winner since he retained the title in 2019, looked a threat to add a fourth Wanamaker trophy to his collection after returning a 67 highlighted by an eagle, birdie and par finish to join Scheffler in a group at four-under.

Tiger Woods, who collected one of his 15 major titles at Valhalla in 2000 with a playoff win over Bob May, opened with a one-over 72 but lamented a sloppy bogey, bogey finish to his day.

This is Woods' first event since the Masters. Last month the injury-ravaged golfer had earned a tournament-record 24th consecutive made cut at Augusta National, although finishing last among those who played the weekend.

"It's just that I just don't play a whole lot of competitive rounds," said Woods. "I haven't played since the Masters.

"So it's a little bit different than being at home and playing a flat Florida course."