No celebration for Rory after another final day collapse
RORY MCILROY’s hopes of marking his 30th birthday with a statement victory fell flat at the Wells Fargo Championship yesterday following a poor final round. The Northern Irishman reached the landmark age on Saturday, and had left the Quail Hollow course in North Carolina in chipper mood after a third round 68 left him three strokes off the pace. All seemed in place for a morale-boosting success, given he was already a twotime winner of the event. Furthermore, the only players ahead of him were three Americans who were hardly of the intimidating variety; Max Homa, Joel Dahmen — both seeking their first tour wins — and former USPGA Champion Jason Dufner, who has one top 25 finish all season. It all started to go wrong for McIlroy at the par five seventh, where he threeputted for a momentum crushing par. Neither did he take advantage of a good drive at the short par four 8th, followed by another three putt at the 9th. Worse still followed at the par five 10th, where he was just short in two. Almost unbelievably, McIlroy would need three chips and two putts to complete the last 20 yards, and end any prospect of a win. The first two chips reached the top of a slope and then came back to his feet. As he walked off the hole following his bizarre double bogey, his exasperation was plain. Just to complete McIlroy’s day, a weather suspension followed at precisely the moment when he would have been desperate to finish his round and jet off home to Florida. While McIlroy sat in the clubhouse and pondered what had gone wrong, his playing partner Justin Rose still entertained slim hopes of catching the leader Homa. Over the stretch where McIlroy fell apart, Rose picked up three shots in four holes from the 7th to move into the top three. This was a good response from Rose, playing in his first event since the Masters. He was only a shot behind Dahmen with four holes to complete but Homa was another three shots in the distance. It was some performance from the 28-year-old Californian, who was doing a great job of keeping the prospect of doubling his career earnings in one foul swoop to the back of his mind. In 68 previous tournaments, Homa had accumulated $1.5 million — here, the first prize is $1.4m. Paul Casey had begun with a slim chance of winning himself but that didn’t survive a wobbly opening, where he had three birdies and three bogeys in the first six holes. Thereafter, he steadied, and had moved into the top five at two under par for his round with three holes to play when the suspension arrived.