CNN — Rory McIlroy became the first golfer to lift the FedEx Cup three times after completing a sensational comeback victory at the PGA Tour Championship on Sunday. Having arrived at Atlanta’s
CNN
—
Rory McIlroy became the first golfer to lift the FedEx Cup three times after completing a sensational comeback victory at the PGA Tour Championship on Sunday.
Having arrived at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club six shots behind top seed Scottie Scheffler, the Northern Irishman trailed by the same margin heading into the deciding day. Yet as World No. 1 Scheffler suffered a joint-round worst three-over 73, McIlroy carded a 66 to edge the American and South Korean Im Sung-jae by a single stroke at 21-under.
It marked the largest final-round comeback in Tour Championship history, besting Colombian Camilo Villegas’ five-shot recovery in 2008. Only Justin Thomas and Sam Burns overturned larger deficits on the Tour all season, winning from seven shots back at the PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge respectively.
After FedEx Cup victories in 2016 and 2019, triumph at East Lake sees McIlroy edge clear of Tiger Woods – winner of the inaugural event in 2007 – as the only player to have secured the title three times.
“It’s really cool to do something in golf that no one has ever done before,” McIlroy told reporters.
“Obviously, the history of the FedEx Cup isn’t as long as the history of some other tournaments, but to be walking out of here three times a champion, it’s very, very satisfying and something that I’m incredibly proud of.”
McIlroy was rewarded with $18 million in prize money for his 22nd PGA Tour victory, ensuring a triumphant end to a stellar season tinged with major disappointment.
With wins at the CJ Cup and the Canadian Open, the 33-year-old consistently impressed with 10 top-10 results across 16 events. Nowhere was this form more evident than at the majors, where McIlroy finished no worse than eighth across the four events.
Yet having finished runner-up at the Masters in April and agonizingly letting victory slip through his grasp at the 150th Open Championship in July, McIlroy’s superb form did not reap the fifth major triumph he has been chasing since victory at the PGA Championship in 2014.
With McIlroy comparing the campaign to 2019, where he also recorded three Tour wins, caddy Harry Diamond believed it was a fitting end to the season.
“On the 18th green today, [Harry] goes, ‘All the good golf you played this year, you deserve this,’” McIlroy said.
“I’ve said all along this year, this season felt very, very similar to 2019. I played great golf. I had some good wins but didn’t pick off a major.”
For Scheffler, narrow defeat marked a painful end to a phenomenal season in which triumph at the Masters headlined four wins and 11 top-10 finishes on the Tour.
Opening with a 65 and two 66’s, the American’s triumph had looked set to be a procession before three bogeys through the first six holes Sunday opened the door for McIlroy, who – despite opening with a bogey – responded with a trio of birdies through the same run.
A superb birdie putt from McIlroy at the 15th followed by a bogey from Scheffler at the subsequent hole proved decisive, as the Northern Irishman tapped home at the last to win with par. After a brief celebratory fist pump, McIlroy went straight over to embrace Scheffler.
“Scottie Scheffler is going to win the Player of the Year, there’s no doubt about that. It would have been fitting for him to end his breakout season with a FedEx Cup title,” McIlroy said.
“He deserves this maybe more than I deserve it, he played an unbelievable season. He didn’t have his best stuff today, and I played well and took advantage of that.
“It’s hard. You don’t really know what to say on the 18th green because he’s had such a great year, but he’ll be back and he’s a great player, and I told him this certainly isn’t the last time that we’re going to have these battles on the golf course.”
Despite his disappointment, Scheffler was similarly gracious in defeat.
“I really fought hard today. Rory just played a really good round of golf. He made some key putts there at the end, and he definitely deserved to win,” he said.
“I’ve had a really great year and I wanted to finish it off with a win here, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that. But at the end of the day, it’s such a gift to be out here playing golf for money, and I’m just so thankful to be out here.”
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The Irishman pipped close friend Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm by a single stroke at Wentworth to claim his first title since The Open Championship in July 2019.
His sixth win on the DP World Tour, the 35-year-old carded a bogey-less 17-under across the adjusted 54-hole championship, cut from the conventional 72-hole format after Friday’s second round was canceled following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
After shooting a six-under 66 and 68 through the opening two rounds, Lowry arrived Sunday two strokes off the lead, but saw his final round roar into life with an eagle at the fourth hole.
A fourth birdie at the 12th saw Lowry draw level with 2021 US Open champion Rahm, who had set the clubhouse target at 16-under after carding a joint-event best 62.
With McIlroy hot on his heels, a steady run of five straight pars left Lowry needing to birdie the final hole to avoid a playoff with Rahm. After having birdied the 18th on the first two rounds, the Irishman made it a hat-trick to move within touching distance of the title.
It left McIlroy requiring an eagle at the par-five final hole to force a playoff, and the Northern Irishman came agonizingly close to pulling off the feat. The newly-crowned PGA Tour Championship winner found the green in two shots, but his 23-foot eagle putt missed by mere inches to confirm Lowry as champion.
“I am so happy,” Lowry told reporters. “It’s so hard to win on this tour, any tour. You have some of the best players in the world trying to chase you down.
“I felt like my game has been good enough all year to win, and I just felt like I haven’t had the breaks that I needed to win tournaments.
“I’m just very thankful and very grateful that I got to win this, and what a tournament to win, as well. Seems like I don’t like to do it small when I do it, so it’s nice to have this on my resumé as well.”
Lowry’s strong year
Lowry has registered four top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, including a runner-up finish at the Honda Classic in February, to earn $3,616,679 in prize money.
His triumph Sunday sees him take home €1,351,105.60 ($1,373,533.95), sweetening the joy of ending a frustrating rut.
“I think if I didn’t get over line today, maybe I do go back and start asking questions about what I need to do differently or what needs to change because, yes, my golf is good, but if you’re not knocking off the wins and you’re playing well, you might have to ask questions,” Lowry said.
“You spend your life and your career getting up early every day, working your nuts off to get in these positions and when you get in these positions, it’s quite uncomfortable.
“It’s not the nicest place in the world because you don’t want to mess it up and be sitting in your hotel room having thrown away the tournament and it’s not a nice place to be.”
Following Queen Elizabeth’s death Friday, play resumed following a two-minute silence by players, staff and fans Saturday morning, with Lowry paying tribute to “an incredible woman.”
“I felt like the right thing to do was go ahead and just have a celebration of her life this weekend as opposed to sitting around and moping about it,” he said.
“The whole world is saddened by her loss but great to see the crowds come out yesterday and today. I felt like it was a great way to give a send-off. I know it might not mean much to anyone but I thought that way.”
McIlroy, who had pipped Lowry to the title eight years ago, said he was pleased to see Lowry finally reap the rewards of having consistent form.
“He’s had a lot of close calls here. Finished second to me when I won in 2014 and he’s got me back today,” the 33-year-old told reporters.
“He’s been knocking on the door for a while. He’s played a lot of good golf this year without actually getting over the line.
“So really, really happy for him. We’ve become incredibly close over the last couple of years, and yeah, good to see.”
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