Mcilroy grateful to get winning feeling back

The crowds are back, and so is Rory Mcilroy.

Playing in his first tournament since missing the cut at the Masters, the Northern Irish star won for the first time in a yearand-a-half, shooting a three-under-par 68 on Sunday to finish at 10 under par and claim the Wells Fargo Championship by one stroke over Abraham Ancer.

Mcilroy, who turned 32 earlier in the week, said his reaction to the win was a mix of relief and satisfaction.

“Relief that I've won again, relief that my season I feel is sort of back on track, and more just satisfaction at the journey that I'm on and the process that I've been going through to try to get back to this point,” he said after his round. “There's been a lot of hard work. I've put my head down. I haven't really looked too much in either direction, I've just tried to do what I need to do.”

There were a limited number of spectators on hand at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., but it was as close to a pre-pandemic tournament experience as the golf world has seen since the

PGA Tour's restart last June.

“I thought I'd like the peace and quiet when we returned but I missed the crowds,” he said. “I feed off the energy so much.”

Mcilroy is a fan favourite everywhere he goes, especially at Quail Hollow, where he won his first tour event in 2010 as a 20-yearold. Mcilroy also won the Wells Fargo Championship in 2015.

“This place has been good to me,” he said. “Ever since I first set eyes on this golf course, I loved it.”

Mcilroy nearly didn't tee-off on Thursday after straining his neck during practice on Wednesday.

On Sunday, bogey-free through 17 holes, Mcilroy took a twostroke lead to the 18th but hooked his tee shot at the par-4 into a hazard left of the fairway. Initially, it looked as though the leader had caught a break when he found his ball in the rough instead of in the creek that runs the length of the hole, but his lie was so poor he opted to take a penalty drop. Playing his third shot, Mcilroy hit an iron from 200 yards onto the green and two-putted for bogey and his

19th PGA Tour win.

Going into the week Mcilroy had fallen to 15th in the world — his lowest ranking in more than a decade — and after making the cut on Friday he said he was happy just to play the weekend after missing the cut at the Players Championship and the Masters, his previous two stroke play events.

The low round of the day was a five-under 66 shot by Ancer, who birdied three of his final four holes. It's the fourth runner-up finish for the world No. 26, still looking for his first win on tour.

O CANADA

Somebody tell the Tim Hortons in Listowel, Ont., to break out the Corey Conners' Hole-in- One doughnuts again. Conners made his second ace in a month on Sunday at the Wells Fargo, holing a 254-yard hybrid on the long par-3 sixth hole at Quail Hollow.

Last month, the Canadian made a hole-in-one at Augusta National's sixth hole during the third round of the Masters.

Conners shot a one-over-par 72 on Sunday and finished the week tied for 43rd at two-over.

Two-time PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor was the top Canadian this week, shooting a two-under 69 on Sunday to finish tied for 26th at even par.

Roger Sloan and Michael Gligic both finished tied for 58th at fiveover. Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes and David Hearn missed the cut.