Mcilroy soars to $15M prize
Victory at East Lake nets tie with Woods in Fedex Cup titles
ATLANTA — Rory Mcilroy marched to the 18th green Sunday at East Lake with victory in hand and $15 million in the bank.
Even better was what he saw — and heard — behind him.
The scene was all too familiar.
The gallery ducked under the ropes and rushed to encircle the green to watch the finish of a class performance in the Tour Championship. Before long, the chants began to ring out: “Rory! Rory! Rory!”
This time, Mcilroy had the stage to himself.
A bystander last year amid the chaotic celebration of Tiger Woods’ return to victory, Mcilroy soaked up the perfect ending to a solid year when he surged past Brooks Koepka, held off Xander Schauffele and captured the Fedex Cup and golf ’s richest payoff.
Turning to Harry Diamond, his caddie and best friend, Mcilroy told him, “This walk is a little more pleasant than last year.”
He closed with a 4-under-par 66 to finish four shots ahead of Schauffele, joining Woods as the lone players to win the Fedex Cup twice.
“Any time you can do something that only Tiger has done,” Mcilroy said, “you’re doing something right.”
There was more than $15 million — $14 million in cash, $1 million deferred — to this victory.
Regardless of the new format that gave some players a head start to par depending on their Fedex Cup ranking — Mcilroy began five shots behind before the tournament started — he wanted to post the lowest score of anyone in the 30-man field.
He shot 13-under 267, the best by three shots.
And when he was paired with Koepka in the final group Sunday, it was a chance for atonement. A month ago, Mcilroy laid an egg in the final group at a World Golf
Championship, just like he did with Woods the year before at East Lake.
“I thought a lot about that,” Mcilroy said. “I thought about the final group with Tiger last year, the final group with Brooks in Memphis a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to go out there and play well and really take it to him, and I did that.”
The final round turned on the seventh hole with a three-shot swing — Mcilroy made a 25-foot birdie, while Koepka lost his tee shot in the trees and made double bogey. There were consecutive two-shot swings on the back nine, and then it was a matter of holding off Schauffele.
Mcilroy was four shots ahead until back-to-back bogeys, and he was on the verge of watching his lead shrink to one when he holed an 8-foot par putt on the 16th. Schauffele settled for pars, and Mcilroy finished with a flourish.
He was the lone player to break par all four days.
Schauffele closed with a 70 to finish alone in second, which paid out $5 million.
Justin Thomas, the No. 1 seed in the Fedex Cup who started with a two-shot lead, lost his way Sunday in the conclusion of the third round when he took triple bogey on the 16th hole with a 9-iron from the fairway. He fell four behind and never caught up.
At Aurora, Ontario, topranked Jin Young Ko closed with an 8-under 64 for a 26-under 262 total and a five-shot win over Nicole Broch Larsen (69) in the CP Women’s Open. Defending champion Brooke Henderson (69) was seven strokes off the lead and tied for third.
At Snoqualmie, Wash., Brandt Jobe rallied from seven strokes down, shooting a final-round 9-under 63 for an 18-under 198 total and a three-stroke win over Tom Pernice Jr. (65) in the Boeing Classic. Fred Couples (76) entered with a five-shot lead but tied for third.
LPGA: Champions: European PGA:
At Gothenburg, Sweden, Erik van Rooyen birdied the final hole for a 6-under 64 and a 19-under 261 total to win the Scandinavian Masters by one shot over Matt Fitzpatrick (64).