Repeat title for McIlroy
Rory McIlroy won the Canadian Open on Sunday and gave the PGA Tour a strong response to the start of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational, closing with an 8-under 62 to win a wild race to the finish with Justin Thomas and Tony Finau.
McIlroy had his first title defense on the PGA Tour, even if he had to wait for it. He won golf ’s fourth-oldest national open in 2019 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club, only for the the COVID-19 pandemic to cancel the next two editions.
Thomas pushed him to the end at St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto, and the tournament effectively ended on the 17th hole. McIlroy and Thomas were tied and in the rough. McIlroy hit a wedge that rolled out to tap-in range, while Thomas missed a 10-foot par putt, a two-shot swing. Thomas closed with a pair of bogeys and still shot 64.
McIlroy finished at 19-under 261 for a two-stroke victory.
Finau holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 64 to finish second alone. Thomas was third at 14 under. Justin Rose matched the tournament-and course-record with a 60 — with three eagles and three bogeys — to tie for fourth with Sam Burns (65) at 14 under.
The Canadian crowd was enormous having been kept away since 2019, and thousands surrounded the 18th green as the threesome of McIlroy, Thomas and Finau finished.
McIlroy as been one of the strongest opponents of the LIV Golf series and spoke out against the money being paid to players like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Greg Norman, who runs the LIV Golf, said in a story in the Washington Post that McIlroy had been “brainwashed” by the PGA Tour.
The victory was the second for McIlroy this season, adding to his victory in Las Vegas last October in the CJ Cup. He won for the 21st time on the PGA Tour.
“This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time,” McIlroy said. “Twenty-one PGA Tour wins, one more than somebody else.”
It was a dig at Norman, who had 20 tour wins.
Henderson gets it done: A year ago, Brooke Henderson closed with a 7-under 64 in the ShopRite LPGA Classic and took second.
The 24-year-old Canadian matched the finalround performance in the event this year, and still had work to do. This time she got the job done Sunday at the Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway, New Jersey, after overcoming a four-shot deficit.
Henderson eagled the first playoff hole to beat Lindsey Weaver-Wright for her 11th tour victory and first this year.
History-making senior win: Thongchai Jaidee became the first Thai winner in PGA Tour Champions history Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory in the American Family Insurance Championship.
A week after playing his way into the event with a 10th-place finish in Iowa, the 52-year-old Thongchai won in his 19th start on the 50-and-over tour.
Thongchai finished at 14-under 202 at University Ridge in Madison, Wisconsin.
Tom Pernice Jr. was second after a 66