RORY MCILROY DESCRIBED the PGA Tour as ‘the greatest place in the world to play off’ after his remarkable final round saw him secure the Tour Championship and a third FedEx Cup title last night.
McIlroy started the day six shots behind world number one Scottie Scheffler but reeled him with a final round of 66 to finish on 21-under, one shot clear of Scheffler and Sungjae Im.
It marks the third time McIlroy has won the Tour Championship, previously triumphing in 2016 and 2019.
“It [FedExCup victory] means an awful lot,” McIlroy said afterwards.
“I believe in the game of golf. I believe in this Tour in particular. I believe in the players on this Tour.
“It’s the greatest place in the world to play golf, bar none, and I’ve played all over the world. This is an incredibly proud moment for me, but it should also be an incredibly proud moment for the PGA Tour.
“They [the PGA Tour] have had some hard times this year, but we’re getting through it. That was a spectacle out there today, two of the best players in the world going head-to-head for the biggest prize on the PGA Tour, and I hope everyone at home enjoyed that.”
McIlroy was asked why he thrives so well in the role of chaser in the final round.
“I think out of anyone in the field, I care the least about the money. That’s probably it.”
BREAKING NEWS 🚨: Rory McIlroy becomes the first three-time winner of the FedExCup! pic.twitter.com/WRmAOQ8n3J
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 28, 2022
In 2019 after winning the FedEx Cup, McIlroy had to fly to Switzerland to play that week but he intends this time to take a chance to celebrate.
“We’ll stay here tonight in Atlanta. It’ll probably be a quiet night. But I had a conversation with Shane Lowry yesterday, and it’s Poppy’s birthday on Wednesday and his kids are going to come around our house for Poppy’s birthday.
“He said, I’ll see you next week and we can celebrate with the FedExCup. I was like, yeah, whatever. I was eight back at the time. I was like, yeah, I’ll just see you next week.
“Lo and behold, we might find a few really nice bottles of red wine tomorrow night in my wine cellar and open them up and have a good time.
“He does (know how to celebrate). He’ll lead me in the right direction.”
McIlroy became the first player to win the FedEx Cup three times, Tiger Woods is the only other player to have won it more than once after his two wins.
“You know, to be the first to do anything in the game that you love so much, it’s an incredibly proud moment. The FedExCup isn’t that old. I’ve won three out of the 16, I guess is it now?
“But yeah, to do something else that no one else has done and to even just give myself the opportunity to do that today, and then coupling that with the opportunity and playing the golf when you needed to to get the job done, incredibly satisfying.”
Yaaas ☘️ What time is the party @McIlroyRory? 🍻🍻🍻🍻 https://t.co/X4JAHsfnWu
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) August 28, 2022
After a difficult year which saw him miss out on a Major win, coming particularly close in The Open at St Andrews, this was a satisfying end to McIlroy’s season.
“I’ve been knocking on the door so much this year. St Andrews was really hard for me. Still, it was a tough one to get over. This softens the blow a little bit. It doesn’t make it that much easier to get over, but it’s great to end the season on a high note like this.
“Look, the FedExCup is a huge tournament, but the major championships are the pinnacle of our sport; this is close behind. I just felt so close all year. I had a couple wins, but I was just waiting for something. Maybe this was it. I got a little lucky with Scottie not playing his best golf today, and I took advantage of that with my good play.
“But, you know, I went up against the best player in the world today and I took him down, and that’s got to mean something.”
McIlroy praised world number one Scheffler, who enjoyed a terrific year as he won four tournaments, including the Masters last April.
“I feel like Scottie [Scheffler] deserves at least half of this today. He has had an unbelievable season. I feel sort of bad that I pipped him to the post, but he’s a hell of a competitor.
“He’s an even better guy. It was an honour and a privilege to battle with him and I’m sure we’ll have many more. I told him we’re one-all in Georgia today: He got the Masters and I got this!
“I didn’t really give myself much of a chance teeing off today. I thought six behind, I thought it was going to be really tough to make up. But my good play and Scottie’s not-so-great play, and it was a ballgame going into the back nine.”
Scheffler saw his hopes fade after a final round of three-over 73 resulted in him slipping back the leaderboard.
“I hit the ball really well today. I just for whatever reason, I couldn’t get enough looks. Maybe if I could take a few shots back, I’d probably take back the drive on 16.
“But outside of that, I really fought hard today. Rory [McIlroy] just played a really good round of golf. He made some key putts there at the end, and he definitely deserved to win.
“He played a really good round of golf. A really solid four days here. I don’t know exactly what he started the week off, but I’m sure he was pretty close to winning the tournament individually, as well. Tip to the cap to him. He played a great round of golf today and played good enough to win.”
- Originally published at 10.31
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