A Grip on Sports: With McIlroy’s win Sunday at Augusta, the Masters finally have enough back-to-back champions to have a real Mount Rushmore

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The first to do it was the greatest golfer ever. The next went on to a long, illustrious career in broadcasting. The third was the second-greatest golfer ever. The fourth? Rory McIlroy. The list of golfers who have won the Masters two consecutive times is short, impressive and, in many ways, satisfying.

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• Golf, more than any other sports, thrives within a hierarchy. Maybe that’s because it was the sport of those at the top of society’s hierarchy for so long. That tradition, like so many others, no longer exists. But the habit of ranking the best of the best still revolves around the four tournaments at the top of the golf pyramid.

The PGA Championship. The U.S. Open. The Open. And, at the highest point of that pyramid, the Masters. Augusta National. Patrons. Green jackets. Butler Cabin. And the famous stretch of holes that sounds like a prayer more than any element of professional sports.

When two-time Masters winner Scottie Scheffler entered Amen Corner on Sunday afternoon, his prayers had been answered. The hellish golf he played the first two rounds had vanished in a puff a smoke. He was nine-under par on the weekend, had pulled within a couple strokes of the lead and had a chance. Survive 11 and 12 without a mistake, birdie, or maybe even eagle, 13 and the game was on.

He accomplished the first goal. The second? That proved to be his downfall. No eagle. No birdie. Par. Most years, rounding the corner at even par may be good enough. Not this one.

That’s because, on 12, the short par-3 that destroyed his Masters’ hopes multiple times before last year, McIlroy hit his best shot in a week of spectacular ones.

A soft 9-iron iron that covered the tributary of Rae’s Creek and cozied down within 7-feet of the hole. A no-doubt putt. A shaky round stabilized. He followed up that birdie with another on 13.

When Scheffler, the only other player on the leaderboard who actually challenged on the back nine, birdied 15 and 16, McIlroy’s two-under sprint through the most excruciating three-hole run in golf still stood up. And when Scheffler’s putt birdie putt on 17 ended up less than a ball out of the cup, the cushion built on 12 and 13 kept the champagne cork from blowing early.

Not that McIlroy didn’t try to make it interesting. He drove the ball into the woods right at 18. Had to wait for the patrons to relocate. Had to design some sort of shot that mere mortals only dream about. But, most-importantly, had a two-shot lead. That was all the difference. His second found the front bunker. His third the 18th green. His fourth settled just outside the cup. His fifth made history.

For only the fourth time ever, there was no other pro golfer available to put the most-famous piece garment in the game on the winner’s shoulders. Like Napoleon’s crown, McIlroy donned it himself. Smiled. Sighed. Looked to the heavens. At a place that challenged his resolve for more than a decade, McIlroy seemed at peace. He had survived. Again. And had done something so many greats had never been able to accomplish.

Can I get an amen here?

• There is an old joke about two hikers in the woods. They hear a Grizzly nearby. One hiker prepares to play dead. The other drops everything, pulls a pair of running shoes out of his pack and starts to put them on. The first looks at him funny and says “You can’t outrun a Grizzly.” The second one, still tying his shoes, answers, “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you.”

The Mariners seem to be that second hiker after 16 games this season. And playing the role of the first hiker is the franchise everyone thought coming into the season would be their most-prominent American League West threat, the Houston Astros.

Sure, Seattle’s 7-9 record has them firmly in fourth place in the West. But the Astros, after another loss at T-Mobile on Sunday, are even worse. In last. And the three teams above the M’s? The Athletics and Rangers are 8-7, the Angels 8-8. In other words, no one in the division has even been able to pull their running shoes out of their backpack yet.

• One last thought on this rainy Monday morning. If you have wondered the past few years why college basketball coaches never seem perturbed when a recruit goes elsewhere, Isiah Harwell’s announcement Sunday he was leaving Houston and joining the Zags should explain it all.

Harwell, who grew up in Pocatello but finished high school in Utah, was a five-star recruit in the 2025 class. Houston was a five-star destination after getting to the NCAA title game, eliminating Gonzaga along the way. The Cougars lost to Florida that season but won the recruiting battle.

College coaches have to be incredible rebounders these days. And, like any good rebounder, they have to establish their position early, just in case the first shot is missed. More and more are and Mark Few boxed out everyone else to grab the athletic 6-foot-6 shooting guard from the portal.

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WSU: Theo Lawson’s Pac-12 recruiting tracker has been updated this morning.  … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, recruiting never even slows down at Oregon. At least it seems that way these days. … A key Duck receiver is back from injury. … Is Deion Sanders’ honeymoon over? The Colorado students seem to be saying yes. … Utah isn’t holding a spring game this weekend. … Playing quarterback at Stanford and beyond can be lucrative. And physically challenging. … Continuity is a rare commodity in the sport. … In basketball news, a couple of major men’s transfer portal targets are headed to Louisville. … Washington lost a player and added one Sunday. … USC is back shopping in the portal, with a smaller margin for error. … Oregon will be adding a transfer forward. … Arizona is in a state of flux but the future is still bright. 

Gonzaga: We linked Theo’s story on Harwell above. And his Pac-12 recruiting tracker in the WSU section. But there is more in today’s S-R. How about a couple stories on alumni guards? Ryan Nembhard set a Dallas Mavericks’ rookie single-game assist record Sunday, with  23. And former GU great Courtney Vandersloot signed a two-year deal to stay with the Chicago Sky. … Former GU men’s player Dusty Stromer left Grand Canyon after a year. He is headed to USD.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Weber State’s new men’s basketball coach added his first transfer. … Recruiting isn’t even slowing down for Montana State football.

Indians: After falling behind early, Spokane needed a comeback if it wanted to leave Hillsboro with a split of the six-game series. As Dave Nichols tells us, the Indians came up short, 5-2, and return home to face Vancouver on Tuesday with a 4-5 record.

Mariners: When Logan Gilbert is on, as he was Sunday, he’s as good as just about any starting pitcher in baseball. The Astros certainly would say so after the M’s efficient 6-1 victory. … Cal Raleigh is staying patient as he works to overcome his slow start to the season. … As for the M’s poor start overall? Don’t believe it.

Kraken: A good start spoiled? Seattle’s expansion NHL franchise had the city in the palm of its hand. And dropped it to the floor the past three years. … The goalie situation has been odd the past couple seasons.

Storm: No one in the WNBA has ever signed a more-lucrative contract than Seattle’s Ezi Magbegor did Sunday. Her return is a major part of the roster rebuild. … Today’s draft is another big step, as the Storm has two first-round selections. Who might they take? … Free agents also play a role.

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• After a weekend in Salt Lake City, where Kim and I were able to enjoy In-N-Out a couple times and discovered an out-of-the-way underground pizza joint near the University of Utah campus, we return home to rain? All week pretty much? No, that’s not right. Did we get on the wrong plane and end up in Seattle? Until later …