When the short birdie putt rolled in on the first playoff hole, the matter was settled.
Rory McIlroy fell to his knees, hiding his head in his hands as the first of many tears came. The jubilation from the crowd around the 18th green knew no bounds.
And a happier champion than McIlroy is hard to imagine.
There was not much joy in the (first) reaction, it was just relief, says McIlroy with a laugh.
Then the joy came pretty quickly after that. I've been coming here for 17 years and that was more than a decade of emotions that came out of me.
In almost eleven years, since the fourth and latest major title, Rory McIlroy has had to live with the constant questions. When will he – the world's best player in the generation after Tiger Woods – win the Masters and complete a "career grand slam"?
"It's been tough"
For every failed attempt at Augusta, the burden has seemed to become increasingly heavy to bear.
It's been tough. It's been about winning my next major and taking a "career grand slam". Trying to join a group of only five players who have managed to do it, while seeing several of my colleagues win green jackets in the meantime.
When the incredibly dramatic and entertaining Masters Sunday began, McIlroy had a two-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau may be American, but it was McIlroy who was the big crowd favorite at Augusta on a Sunday afternoon that was electric.
But McIlroy made a double bogey right away on the first hole and a murmur went through the crowd.
I was nervous. This was one of the toughest days I've ever had on a golf course, he says.
It continued to swing wildly. DeChambeau, who snatched victory from McIlroy in the US Open last year, disappeared from the tight contest after several dropped shots. Meanwhile, the Northern Irishman played himself up and pulled away to a five-stroke lead at most. The cheering "Rory, Rory, Rory" echoed among the tall trees in "Amen Corner".
Åberg in shared lead
But then McIlroy invited the competitors to join in by hitting a short wedge shot into the famous Rae's Creek on hole 13 – with a new double bogey as a result.
Ludvig Åberg and Justin Rose were towards the end in a shared lead with Rory McIlroy. Åberg's time in the lead was short-lived when he finished strongly with bogey-triple bogey for a seventh place on –6.
McIlroy missed a huge opportunity to decide on the 18th, but instead it was a playoff against Rose on the same hole.
Then came the decision that made Rory McIlroy immortal as a golfer and put an end to the eternal discussion about his pursuit of a "career grand slam".
As Rory McIlroy himself asked the journalists at the press conference after the triumph:
What will we talk about next year?
Born: May 4, 1989.
From: Holywood, Northern Ireland.
Lives: Jupiter, Florida.
World ranking: Two.
Previous major titles: US Open 2011, PGA Championship 2012 and 2014, British Open 2014.
Currently: Completes a "career grand slam" with the win in the US Masters. The five players who have previously managed to do it are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.
