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From the PGA Tour: McIlroy responds at 2019 Players Championship
The one constant about the game of golf is its predictable unpredictability
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span>The one constant about the game of golf is its predictable unpredictability. Ask 48-year-old Phil Mickelson about his unquenched thirst for a US Open win to complete a Grand Slam. Tiger Woods at 43 has already waited 14 long years to win his 15th Major Championship.
However, with a spectacular win at the 2019 Players Championship Rory McIlroy has now taken another step toward winning his next major and completing his quest for a Grand Slam at the upcoming Masters. The 29-year-old bettered the deepest field in golf by 1 stroke to finish at 16 under par, a nose ahead of veteran American Jim Furyk at 15 under par who had an amazing week.
England’s Eddie Pepperell and the Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas found themselves tied for third at 14 under par just 2 strokes back.
“Very proud, very honored to be able to call myself a Players champion, a tournament I haven’t won before, so great to obviously add to the CV,” said Rory regarding the significance of his win.
Moved to March in the PGA Tour schedule this year, with a US$2.25 million winner’s purse the Players is the PGA Tour’s marquee annual event. Englishman Tommy Fleetwood had tied for the lead after the first round with American Keegan Bradley both men shooting a spectacular 7 under par 65.
They were pursued by South Korean Byeong An and American Brian Harman who both posted 6 under par 66, only 1 stroke back. Fleetwood commented after the round: “I love the course. If you like golf, you should like this golf course really. It’s just about as fair as you’re going to get a test”.
McIlroy for his part was off to a great start at 5 under par (67) only 2 strokes back after the first round. When Rory was asked if he had overcome his close misses at winning recently he said: “It’s a new week. That’s the great thing about golf. Once you wake up on Monday morning, it’s a fresh start. It’s a new tournament. It’s a new opportunity.”
McIlroy kept the pressure on with a dazzling 65 of his own in the second round to tie the lead with Fleetwood after two rounds at 12 under par. The third round resulted in a slight changing of the guards on top of the leaderboard. The young Spaniard John Rahm shot a splendid 8 under par to seize the lead at 15 under.
McIlroy and Fleetwood kept pace and were only 1 stroke back both posting 2 under par 70 scores to move to 14 under for the event. Rahm was asked about how dangerous Rory could be in the final round and he candidly responded: “Well, it’s Rory McIlroy. I mean he was No. 1 in the world at the age of 22, and he’s a four-time major champion, so he definitely knows how to get the job done.”
The fourth and final round now had all the color for an incredible finish with likes of Jason Day and the young Mexican star Abraham Ancer all within 4 strokes of the lead.
Unfortunately for Rahm his words regarding McIlroy were prescient. McIlroy held his nerve and game together in the final round to shoot a steady 2 under par 70 to victory. Rahm for his part struggled, making mental mistakes culminating in a crucial blunder on the par 5, 11th ignoring the advice of his veteran caddie to lay up and instead landing in the water on his second shot.
He finished in 12th place at 11 under par. Rory partly attributed his triumph to the experience he gained from recent near misses at victory: “Maybe if I hadn’t have had those experiences, I wouldn’t be sitting up here with this trophy, so I’m thankful and grateful for those experiences I’ve had this year. Yes, it would have been nice to maybe get another win, but it sort of made it all worth it”.
The Irishman has certainly learned a lot over the years. On Aug. 10, 2014, upon winning his fourth major championship McIlroy announced that he had about 291 days to wait before his next opportunity to win his fifth Major Championship and complete a career Grand Slam at 25.
That relatively short anticipation has now extended to over four and a half years.
With his remarkable conquest of the Players Championship, Rory is once again knocking on history’s door with the Masters just 25 days away and lending some measured comments to his cause: “And if I go to Augusta with a similar golf game to what I have now and the attitude I’ve shown over the first few weeks of the year, I think I’ll have a great chance.”
