Atlanta – Rory McIlroy, a golfer from Northern Ireland, impressed on the course and spoke out in support of the PGA Tour off the course.
With a brilliant comeback in the Tour Championship’s final round on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, McIlroy became the first FedEx Cup champion to win the competition three times.
In order to defeat No. 1 seed Scottie Scheffler and win the $18 million first prize, McIlroy overcame a six-stroke deficit.
In the wake of the LIV Golf Invitational Series incident, he reaffirmed his support for the PGA Tour.
“I have faith in the sport of golf. I have faith on this specific tour “stated McIlroy. “I have faith in the athletes on this trip. Without a doubt, it’s the best location in the world to play golf. I have also performed all around the globe.”
With a final-round 4-under 66, McIlroy finished the event at 21 under par, one stroke better than Scheffler (73) and Sungjae Im of South Korea (66).
As a result, McIlroy has now won three Tour Championships, one more than Tiger Woods.
The third-largest final-round comeback on the PGA Tour this year was made by McIlroy. It was the biggest comeback in Tour Championship history, surpassing Camilo Villegas’ recovery from five down in 2008. Due to the scoring structure, he also started the week six strokes behind Scheffler’s pace at 4 under.
In spite of this, Scheffler had McIlroy’s whole respect following their last pairing together.
“I only have one thing to say. Scottie, in my opinion, deserves at least half of this “stated McIlroy. “His season has been outstanding. I feel a little terrible about beating him to the punch. Today’s fight with him was an honor and a pleasure, and I’m sure there will be many more.”
The 22-time PGA Tour winner McIlroy evened the score with a birdie on the par-3 15th hole from about 32 feet away. He seemed to be in danger on the next hole, but a pitch shot touched the pin, allowing him to sink a 7-foot par putt. After hitting out of a bunker on the greenside, Scheffler made bogey on the hole.
Scheffler missed a 9-foot birdie putt on hole 17 that would have given him a chance to retake a share of the lead. The par-4 eighth hole was where he made his lone birdie during the final round.
The thought of the money never even crossed Scheffler’s head. “I wanted to take home the overall season championship. I’ve had a fantastic year, and I wanted to cap it off here by winning. Sadly, I was unable to do it.”
Im was attempting to win the FedEx Cup and become the first golfer from Asia to do it.
Even a double bogey on the 14th hole didn’t hurt, but taking par on the par-5 18th hole proved to be a costly mistake.
After his 69 in the final round, Xander Schauffele was fourth at 18 under. Max Homa finished Sunday at 17 under par, equal with Justin Thomas, after shooting 66. (68).
Patrick Cantlay, the defending winner, shot 70 and finished at 16 under par, sharing seventh place with Sepp Straka of Austria (68).
After the third round of the paused game was finished on Sunday morning, Scheffler had a six-shot lead. In order to reach 17 under par before starting his final-round charge, McIlroy made birdies on both of his last two holes of the third round.
McIlroy said, “I didn’t really give myself much of a chance teeing off today.
“I felt it was going to be incredibly hard being six behind,”
Scheffler bogeyed holes Nos. 1, 4, and 6 to reduce the deficit to one shot early in the fourth round. The opening seven holes of the final round included a bogey and four birdies for McIlroy, the 2016 and 2019 FedEx Cup winner.