The Northern Irish golfer battled to a one-shot victory over Scottie Scheffler on Sunday (12.04.26) to become just the fourth player to successfully defend his title at Augusta and admits that having to overcome losing a record 36-hole lead highlighted how challenging the tournament can be.

McIlroy told reporters: "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.

"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 landed his sixth major championship title and joked that he doesn't "make it easy" for himself at Augusta.

The world number two said: "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."