Top Five Final Rounds in Majors, excluding Tiger Woods in 2019 at Augusta

#1: 2011 Masters

This final round was golf on steroids. Like juiced sluggers Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa battling for the home run record in baseball, the 2011 Masters featured legends of the game, consistent one-upmanship and plenty of volatility.

Ironically, the tournament should have been a coronation. Rory McIlroy was primed to take his seat on top of golf, bringing a four-shot lead into Sunday and looking destined to win his first major at Augusta. For a man compared to Tiger Woods, it would have been poetic; fourteen years after a young Tiger lapped the field to win the green jacket, Rory would do the same. Safe to say, it did not happen.

The young Northern Irishman started slow and failed to build upon his lead. A few groups in front of him, the man known as Tiger vaulted to the top of the leaderboard, shooting a front-nine 31 capped off by an eagle at the 8th.

Rory still held a small lead after nine holes, with Woods, Charl Schwartzel, Jason Day and Adam Scott giving chase, among others. Then all hell broke loose at the 10th, when McIlroy snap hooked his driver into the cabins and made triple bogey. He followed that awful hole with a double bogey on the 12th, taking him out of contention. This led to a mad spring between the remaining contenders to go low on Augusta’ famed back nine and secure the green jacket.

Woods looked to be the strongest player but ultimately failed to continue his momentum, playing his next 10 holes in even-par to shoot a 67.  Scott birdied 14 and 16 but only parred the Par-5’s, leaving him at 12-under. Fellow Australian Day went 4-under on the second nine, including birdies on the last two holes, to also get to -12.

The final round ultimately belonged to a relatively unknown name. Schwartzel holed out for birdie at the 1st and eagled the 3rd. After a bogey at the 4th, he parred his next 10 holes in a row. Then, the South African caught absolute fire, birding his final four holes to finish at -14 under and win his only major title to date.

Sunday at the 2011 Masters had it all; the collapse of a rising star player, the roars of Tiger, eight different players sharing the lead and a flurry of fantastic golf shots and birdies that led to a deserving champion. The 2010’s offered some incredible final rounds in majors, but none could top that magical Sunday in Augusta.