McIlroy defends Canadian title and responds to LIV
TORONTO — Rory McIlroy won the RBC 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, and the tournament effectively ended on the 17th hole. Thomas closed with a pair of bogeys and still shot 64.
McIlroy finished at 19-under 261 for a two-stroke victory.
“I feel like it’s getting tougher and tougher to win on the PGA Tour,” McIlroy said. “Just look at the two guys that I played with today. I went out with a lead and had to shoot 8-under par to get the job done. So the depth of talent on this tour is really, really impressive. And going up against guys like J.T. and Tony and coming out on top, that’s something to feel really good about.”
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 courserecord with a 60 — with three eagles and three bogeys — to tie for fourth with Sam Burns (65) at 14 under.
McIlroy has 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.
“This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time,“McIlroy said soon after the victory. “Twenty-one PGA Tour wins, one more than somebody else.”
It was a dig at Norman, who had 20 career tour wins.
Henderson survives LPGA Classic playoff
Brooke Henderson eagled the first playoff hole and beat Lindsey Weaver-Wright to capture the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Galloway Township, N.J, for her 11th win on the tour.
“I just was trying to go low and see what happens,” Henderson said. “I didn’t think — I mean, I thought the victory was a possibility, but there are a lot of really talented players ahead of me and I think I was four shots back starting the day. I knew it was going to take a little bit of magic.”
Jaidee is senior tour’s first Thai winner
Thongchai Jaidee became the first Thai winner in PGA Tour Champions history, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory in the American Family Insurance Championship at Madison, Wisc.
After playing his way into the event with a 10th-place finish in Iowa, the 52-year-old won in his 19th try on the 50-and-over tour.
PGA chief slams new Saudi-funded league
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan described the Saudi-funded league that has signed up Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau as a “series of exhibition matches” that spends billions of dollars on players without getting a return on its investment.
Monahan also said players paid an exorbitant amount of money would “have to be living under a rock” to not know they would be criticized for the source of the money.
LIV Golf is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
“I would ask any player that has left, or any player that would ever consider leaving, ‘Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?’” Monahan said from Toronto on the CBS telecast of the RBC Canadian Open.
The LIV Golf Series has eight tournaments this year with $25 million in prize money for each one, 54-hole events with no cut and 48-man fields.
Charl Schwartzel won the first one Saturday and earned $4.75 million.
Grant makes history on European tour
Linn Grant made history by becoming the first female player to win on the European tour.
The 22-year-old Swede obliterated a field of both male and female golfers at the Scandinavian Mixed event, winning by nine strokes after an 8-under 64 in the final round at Halmstad Golf Club in Sweden.