Rory, Rory Hallelujah - McIlroy magnificent at Quail Hollow
Rory McIlroy's campaign has faltered badly so far in 2010, but the 20-year-old cast aside that malaise in astonishing style on Sunday, setting a new course record of 62 as he took victory at the Quail Hollow Championship by four strokes over Phil Mickelson.
McIlroy had missed the cut at both of his last two tournaments and after middling opening rounds of 72 and 73 here, nobody could have expected the Ulsterman to win his first US tournament this weekend. But McIlroy, who turns 21 on Tuesday, looked like a different player on Saturday, posting a score of six-under to drag himself back into contention.
On Sunday he blew the rest of the field away, carding a flawless 10-under-par that included eight birdies and an eagle on the 15th, finishing 15-under in total. Mickelson ended in second place, 11-under in total after carding six birdies and two bogeys over the final round. Argentina's Angel Cabrera was a stroke further back in third place.
McIlroy clinched victory on the 18th with a 43-foot putt, emblematic of a player brimming with confidence - almost unrecognisable from the troubled youth who crashed out of the Masters in dispiriting circumstances less than a month ago.
The win at the Quail Hollow course, thought of as one of the toughest on the PGA Tour, is McIlroy's first on US soil - and only the second in his entire career. But such a barnstorming performance suggests the lad from Holywood is the real deal. Mickelson certainly thinks so, commenting afterwards that: "He's got all the shots, he's got the game of a veteran and he's a class act. He's fun to be around. You can't help but pull for him.
"Sixty-two is one of the best rounds I've seen in a long, long time. It was very impressive. He's an impressive player. He's also a wonderful person, so I'm happy for him."
Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk and Anthony Kim were among those tied for seventh place on six-under. England's Lee Westwood failed to put in a serious challenge, finishing tied for 38th place on even par after a final round of 72 that included four bogeys and a double on the 11th.
McIlroy's victory caps a riveting week in golf around the globe, with Japanese teenage wonder Ryo Ishikawa taking his seventh win on the Japanese tour with a closing round of 58 - the lowest ever score recorded on the Japanese tour, and lower than either of the lowest scores recorded on the US (59) or European tour (60).
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods put in one of the worst performances of his life earlier this week at Quail Hollow, missing the cut for just the sixth time in his career. Woods shot 79 on Friday, including a seven-over-43 on the back nine that included double bogeys and even missed putts from two feet out.
While the 34-year-old will look to bounce back at this week's Players Championship, Woods could lose his standing as No. 1 in the world at the tournament should he fail to finish within the top five.
Phil Mickelson would also need to win in order to topple Woods from the top spot - a feat that looks eminently within his grasp, assuming he doesn't come up against a newly-emboldened McIlroy, of course.
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