Rory McIlroy told RTÉ Sport that his dramatic play-off victory at The US Masters felt just like winning his first major again, as he completed golf’s grand slam to relieve more than a decade of pressure.

McIlroy ended his long wait for a Masters title with a birdie on the opening hole of a sudden-death play-off to beat Justin Rose and after a nerve-wracking final round.

After missing a five-foot par putt at the 18th in regulation that forced the play-off, McIlroy made sure he did not let his latest chance at major glory slip away and returned to the same hole in the play-off and put his approach two feet from the cup.

With the win, McIlroy joins Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win each of the four major championships.

The 35-year-old arrived at the year’s first major, where in 2011 he blew a four-shot lead on the back nine, seeking his first major since August 2014 to end a barren run that came with its fair share of near misses.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport’s Greg Allen in the aftermath of his triumph, McIlroy’s sense of relief at finally getting over the line at Augusta was palpable.

“It feels absolutely incredible, it’s been a long time coming,” he said.

“Every year that I come here and drive down Magnolia Lane, I try to bring the best attitude that I can and I try to prepare as diligently as possible.

“Sometimes I’ve been able to produce close to my best golf but not been able to get the job done. Thankfully this year was a little bit different.

“I came in in a great vein of form, winning The Players Championship a couple of weeks ago and I don’t feel my confidence was ever as high as coming in here.

“I felt like I was ready for anything that this course in this tournament would throw at me. and I was proven right because it threw a lot at me today.

Becoming on the sixth golfer to complete the grand slam has further cemented McIlroy’s place in the history books and elevates him alongside the true greats of the game.

But having chased victory at The Masters from more than a decade, he admitted that his win feels like the start of a new chapter in his career.

“I’ve said this before, but I feel like my last Major was so long ago that it felt like I was striving to just win my first again at some point,” he said.

“So to be able to get over the line, to get over that hurdle especially here, given that everything that comes along with a Master’s week for me, that’s, that’s incredibly satisfying.

“When Tiger won the Grand Slam back in 2000, that was 25 years ago. So to be the first player in 25 years to it, that means a lot to me.”

The County Down man is now looking forward to this year’s three other Majors and believes that victory at Augusta will give him a newly found sense of freedom as the pressure on him will no longer be as intense.

“I can certainly drive down Magnolia Lane a little more free next year,” he said. “Just knowing that I’m able to come back here each and every year.

“I’ve got the grand slam monkey off my back. I’ve got the ‘when’s Rory going to win a next major’ monkey off.

“All of that is gone, which so nice to be able to turn up to these big events and not have to answer those questions and not have to go through that anymore.

“With the way I’m playing and the way I’m feeling about my game I feel like this could be the start of some really good things.”