Rory McIlroy joins Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Brooks Koepka in list of successful major defences
A look at back-to-back champions over the last 30 years as Rory McIlroy followed up his career Grand Slam-clinching win at The Masters in 2025 with another victory round Augusta National on Sunday; McIlroy now has six major wins to his name in exclusive list of greats
Monday 13 April 2026 17:00, UK
Rory McIlroy created more golfing history on Sunday as he recorded a stunning second consecutive Masters victory to join an exclusive list of successful major defences.
Brooks Koepka was the most recent player to achieve the feat when he made it back-to-back PGA Championship triumphs to become just the second player in the 21st century behind Tiger Woods to defend two different majors.
McIlroy added himself to glittering company over the weekend as he overcame squandering a six-shot halfway lead and a Sunday scare to clinch the Green Jacket for a second year in a row.
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Rory McIlroy - The Masters - 2025 and 2026
McIlroy became the first back-to-back winner of The Masters since Woods after coming through a roller-coaster Sunday to claim a one-shot victory at Augusta National.
McIlroy built a historic six-stroke halfway lead but found himself two behind early in a dramatic final round, where playing partner Cameron Young and then Justin Rose - the man he beat to play-off victory 12 months ago - both enjoyed stints in top spot.
The defending champion responded with back-to-back birdies from the seventh and added successive gains from the 12th to briefly go three ahead, only for Rose and Scottie Scheffler to close and set up a thrilling finish.
McIlroy avoided a repeat of last year's late stumble (squandering a four-shot lead before completing the career Grand Slam) 12 months on as he took a two-shot lead to the 72nd hole before closing out a narrow win with a two-putt bogey.
The world No 2 posted a one-under 71 to finish on 12 under, one ahead of Scheffler, with Tyrrell Hatton's brilliant final-round 66 putting him in third spot alongside Rose, Young and Russell Henley.
Brooks Koepka - PGA Championship - 2018 and 2019
Koepka made history with his second major defence in 2019 when he survived a back-nine collapse and a final-round fightback from Dustin Johnson to cling on for victory at the PGA Championship.
The American took a seven-shot lead into the final round at Bethpage Black and remained six ahead with eight holes to play, only to see his lead cut to one after four consecutive bogeys.
Johnson dropped shots on two of his last three holes to close out a one-under 69 and set the target at six under, as Koepka stuttered home with a four-over 74 to secure a two-stroke win.
Brooks Koepka - US Open - 2017 and 2018
Koepka became the first player in nearly three decades to defend the US Open title when he triumphed by one shot from Tommy Fleetwood at Shinnecock Hills in New York last year.
With conditions not conducive to low scoring, Koepka was tied for the lead on three over with fellow Americans Dustin Johnson, Daniel Berger and Tony Finau after three rounds after making scores of 75, 66 and 72. He then took command in the final round with three birdies over the first five holes and, despite a bogey at the 18th, he was able to hold off a charging Fleetwood, who shot a 63, thanks to a two-under 68.
Koepka had claimed his first major title 12 months earlier at the 2017 US Open at Erin Hills with a 16-under total of 272 after rounds of 67, 70 and 68 kept him towards the top of the leaderboard before a final-round 67 saw him prevail by four from Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama.
It marked Koepka's fourth major win in eight starts and saw him leapfrog Johnson as world No 1 at the time, while making him the first player to win both the US Open and PGA Championship in back-to-back years.
Curtis Strange - US Open - 1988 and 1989
Strange ended an even longer wait for someone to defend the US Open when he won in 1989, becoming the first man to do so since Ben Hogan managed it 38 years previously in 1950 and 1951.
Strange needed a play-off to win his first major in 1988 at Brookline, Massachusetts. Four days of play could not separate himself and Nick Faldo, as they both finished on six under, but Strange prevailed relatively comfortably over 18 holes on the Monday, finishing on level par as Faldo's troublesome round saw him end on four over.
Strange then managed to win the following year at Oak Hill in New York within the regulation four days. He led by a shot after two days but slipped away on the Saturday, only to come back stronger and finish the Sunday with an even round to win by one shot.
Nick Faldo - The Masters - 1989 and 1990
Shortly after Strange's US Open defence, Faldo was performing the same trick at the Masters, becoming the first man to defend at Augusta in 24 years since Jack Nicklaus in 1966.
Faldo was already a major winner, having won The Open in 1987, and recovered from his play-off disappointment at the US Open in 1988 to claim the Masters the following year in similar fashion. Rather than over 18 holes, though, Faldo won a sudden-death play-off against Scott Hoch. Both men bogeyed the 10th but then Faldo made a birdie on the 11th to claim the green jacket.
Yet again in 1990 Faldo was forced into a play-off at the Masters. This time it was against Raymond Floyd, who had started the final day three shots clear of the Englishman but Faldo managed to claw it back so they both finished on 10 under. Both men parred the 10th, but Faldo also parred the 11th for victory.
Tiger Woods - PGA Championship - 1999 and 2000
Woods became the first man in a decade to defend a major when he won the first PGA Championship of the new millennium. The 1999 victory at Medinah was his second major win, having claimed the Masters in 1997, as he finished a shot clear of Sergio Garcia.
Victories in 2000 at the US Open and The Open established Woods as the dominant force in golf, and he would go on to claim the PGA title again at Valhalla.
He either led or shared the lead at the end of all four days, but Bob May forced him into a three-hole play-off, which Woods claimed by a single shot after a birdie on the 16th and pars on 17 and 18, while May could only make three pars.
Tiger Woods - The Masters - 2001 and 2002
Woods was at it again just a couple of years later as he managed to retain the green jacket, becoming the first man to do so since Faldo in 1990.
Woods was five off the lead after the first day at Augusta in 2001, but came back strongly to lead by a shot heading into the final day. A 68 on the Sunday meant he saw off the challenge of David Duval to finish on 16 under and also meant he held all four majors at the same time.
Woods could not defend any of his other titles in 2001, but he did go on to win the Masters again in 2002, finishing three shots clear of Retief Goosen.
Tiger Woods - The Open - 2005 and 2006
It's that man again. Woods became the first man in 23 years, since Tom Watson in 1983, to defend The Open when he won in 2006.
Woods lifted the Claret Jug for the second time in his career on the Old Course at St Andrews in 2005 with a comfortable five-shot win over Colin Montgomerie, then retained his title at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club a year later, his third and most recent Open win.
Tiger Woods - PGA Championship - 2006 and 2007
Six years after retaining his PGA title in 2000, Woods would win it again in back-to-back years in 2006 and 2007.
Again, the first one came at Medinah as he secured a five-shot win over Shaun Micheel to finish on 18 under, tying his own record for an aggregate low score in the PGA Championship.
He would win his 13th major a year later as he claimed a two-shot triumph over Woody Austin at Southern Hills.
Padraig Harrington - The Open - 2007 and 2008
Harrington became the first man to defend a major, aside from Woods, in 18 years as he won The Open in 2007 and 2008.
The Irishman came from six shots behind Sergio Garcia on the final day at Carnoustie to force a four-hole play-off, which he won with an even score after Garcia bogeyed the first.
Harrington would claim victory a year later at Royal Birkdale as well. Greg Norman, then 53, seemed to be heading for an unlikely victory in tough conditions as he started the final round two shots clear, but a final-day 77 saw him slip out of contention as Harrington eventually won with a score of three over, four shots clear of Ian Poulter.
Post-war major defenders
The Masters
Jack Nicklaus - 1965 and 1966
Nick Faldo - 1989 and 1990
Tiger Woods - 2001 and 2002
Rory McIlroy - 2025 and 2026
US Open
Ben Hogan - 1950 and 1951
Curtis Strange - 1988 and 1989
Brooks Koepka - 2017 and 2018
The Open
Bobby Locke - 1949 and 1950
Peter Thomson - 1954, 1955 and 1956
Arnold Palmer - 1961 and 1962
Lee Trevino - 1971 and 1972
Tom Watson - 1982 and 1983
Tiger Woods - 2005 and 2006
Padraig Harrington - 2007 and 2008
PGA Championship
Tiger Woods - 1999 and 2000
Tiger Woods - 2006 and 2007
Brooks Koepka - 2018 and 2019
Will McIlroy enjoy more major success? Watch the PGA Championship, US Open and The Open exclusively live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.
