Ireland's Rory McIlroy Defeats Tiger Woods to win the PGA Tour
Ireland's Rory McIlroy shot a course record final round 10-under-par 62 to win the Quail Hollow championship by four strokes on an action packed Sunday afternoon. Mcllroy who is on the eve of this his 21st birthday, blew away a top-quality field which included Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to become the youngest player since Woods to win on the PGA Tour.
McIlroy began his final round six shots off the pace and tied for seventh position but ran away from his opponents to finish with a 15-under 273 total.
The Irishman was understandably delighted at his win "I'm delighted - I don't think I've ever played a better round in my life," McIlroy said afterwards. "I'm just so excited. I got off to a pretty slow start this week and had to fight to make the cut and the weekend was just very, very special." He added: "I suppose I just got in the zone. I didn't realise I was going eight, nine, 10 under par. I just knew I'd got my nose in front, I was just trying to stay there Mickelson, who was chasing back-to-back PGA Tour titles after winning the US Masters last month, closed with a 68 to finish outright second at 11-under.
Last year's US Masters champion, Angel Cabrera of Argentina, also carded a 68 to finish third, a further shot back.
Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge was fourth and Bo Van Pelt fifth while the overnight leader, Billy Mayfair, faded to finish in a tie for 14th after shooting 76. Ireland’s Paul Harington was full of praise for the 21 year old Mcllroy, and he thinks he has a long way to go, "There's an awful lot of pressure on him," said Harrington.
"When he plays in Europe he's a big star and when you're not winning, you're not delivering, and it becomes a burden. It's amazing the difference when you get a win. "He will be a lot more comfortable with who he is, a lot more patient."
The event lost some of its gloss when world number one Tiger Woods limped out of the tournament on Friday after failing to make the cut for only the sixth time in 241 professional tournaments, raising questions about how long he can continue to dominate the game after the sordid revelations about his extramarital affairs. All of a sudden, the challengers on the course are coming thick and fast at Woods.
Mickelson is rapidly closing in on the number one ranking and on the same day McIlroy won his maiden title in the U.S., 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa shot a 58, the lowest single round score on any of the major golf tours, to win in Japan. McIlroy has been earmarked for greatness since his early teens and won his first European PGA title in Dubai last year but his final day at Quail Hollow was undoubtedly his finest performance.
He almost missed the cut himself, scraping in by a single stroke on Friday after making an eagle at his third last hole then parring the last two, but fired a 66 on Saturday to give himself an outside chance of winning. He started the final day slowly, parring each of the first three holes, before going on an incredible run that featured eight birdies and an eagle over the rest of his round.
He turned in 32 and came home in 30, completing the last six holes in just 18 shots. He eagled the par-5 15th when he drilled his approach to within four feet of the hole then drained a 43-foot putt on the last to break the previous course record by two shots.
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