Rory McIlroy overtakes Luke Donald and Justin Rose for European Tour Golfer of the Month Award
The panel of judges set to decide the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award in March, had one of the worst time in passing out the verdict amid a plethora of rampaging players, all of whom deserved to be named the Golfer of the Month.
Eventually the panel decided to give credit to the young Ulsterman Rory McIlroy for his splendid performance since the start of the month.
His subsequent rise to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) in the same month reinforced the decision.
McIlroy has been on fire since the start of the current season and had already pulled in strong finishes on the Middle Eastern turf.
He carded his first victory of the season at the Honda Classic at the PGA National Resort and Spa.
He soared to the top of the world with his stellar success and overtook Luke Donald at the zenith of the rankings.
McIlroy expressed his gratitude for being nominated European Tour Golfer of the Month for a whooping fourth time in his career.
He said, “It’s always nice to receive these plaudits and honours. There were a couple of guys in with a great chance last month. So it’s nice to come out on top of those two and win the Golfer of the Month award”.
Panel Member Iain Carter, BBC Five Live’s Golf Correspondent, said:
“This was one of the very toughest Golfer of the Month decision we have had to make, but Rory reaching World Number One with a fine performance in Florida, where he held off a resurgent Tiger Woods, just gave him the edge ahead of Justin Rose and Luke Donald”.
Donald moved in later to win the Transitions on PGA Tour to reclaim the world number one title.
Likewise, Rose pulled in a stellar victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, making it all the more difficult for the judges to decide in favour of these players.
McIlroy will now be heading straight into the first major event of the season, the Masters, at Augusta National.
He will be hoping to maintain his composure throughout the four days over the weekend.
With 22 years and 305 days, McIlroy became the youngest world number one after Tiger Woods in the history of the sport.
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