RORY McIlroy has felt as though he had been spinning his wheels for the last five months as he tried to get better and instead got nowhere. It took the Ryder Cup for him to realize what he had always been good enough.
McIlroy shifted into high gear in Las Vegas.
Starting nine shots behind on the weekend, McIlroy followed a 62 by closing with a 6-under 66 for a one-shot victory over Collin Morikawa on Sunday in the CJ Cup at Summit, his 20th career victory on the PGA Tour.
“I know that when I do the things that I do well, this is what I’m capable of,” McIlroy said. “It’s just a matter of me getting back to playing golf and playing golf my way. That starts with being creative and being visual and maybe sort of sifting through the technical thoughts.”
He was creative enough to hit a flop shot over the bunker to a tucked-in for an important par save, allowing him to stay tied with hard-charging Morikawa and move past a fading Rickie Fowler to start the back nine.
And instead of chipping from short of the green on the par-5 14th, he went with putter and got the pace right to hole a 35-foot eagle putt to seize control at The Summit Club.
McIlroy is the 39th player to win at least 20 times on the PGA Tour, and it’s his fifth straight PGA Tour season with at least one win. That gives him lifetime membership as soon as he completes 15 years as a tour member, which is two seasons away.
“At least I’ve got the wins,” he said.
Fowler, who started the final round with a two-shot lead as he tried to end nearly three years without a victory, faded with a pair of three-putts and shot 71 to tie for third.
“Obviously, disappointed, but this is a big step in the right direction with where we’ve been in the last two years,” Fowler said.
The threat came from Morikawa, a member at The Summit Club, who shot 29 on the front to get in the mix and closed with an eagle for a 62. That forced McIlroy to play mistake-free after his big eagle putt on the 14th, and he never came close to a bogey in finishing at 25-under 263.
“It is a big carrot,” McIlroy said of the 20 wins. “I didn’t know it would be this week.” (AP)