This goes in the books as his 12th PGA TOUR victory but first since the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship. And then he went one shot better in the final round, a 65 that matched Adam Scott for the best score of the final round.
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With strong winds and rain forecast, PGA Tour officials moved the final round tee times forward to avoid any delays. It’s a big part of who I am, it’s a big part of my success.
“The next two tournaments are good for me to try and do that”.
Rory McIlroy high-fives some young fans during the final round.
It should also put an end to some of the criticism McIlroy has been facing over the last few months.
Having begun the tournament in disastrous fashion to leave himself four-over through three holes, McIlroy said: “Those last 15 holes on Friday were definitely a turning point, not just in this tournament, but maybe in my season, to play the last 15 holes in four-under”.
Incredibly, McIlroy had been 4-over par after three holes of the championship, before racing back into contention.
He had been ranked 130th for putting after a disappointing summer. It took him to Phil Kenyon, a British putting guru who works with Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen, and who was working with Justin Rose a month before Rose won the gold medal in Rio.
The 27-year-old rolled in his sixth birdie putt of the day from 22 feet for his second three of the tournament at 12, where he carded a seven on day one and a double-bogey six in the third round.
Casey started the final round with a three-shot lead in his bid for his first PGA Tour victory since 2009, but he closed with a 73.
“I found my game a little bit on the back nine”, said Scott.
“I tweaked my putting grip on Saturday morning and holed some putts on Saturday and went with it and got some momentum”, he said.
His putting, which has so often let him down when he needed it most, was on fire as he rolled in several key putts on his way to victory, with his switch to a new Scotty Cameron putter undoubtedly a positive change.
Rickie Fowler, who edged Stenson by one stroke to win the Deutsche Bank a year ago, had a pedestrian title defense, closing with a weekend-worst 72 to tie for 46th, one shot behind Stenson. Several of his seven birdies came with the help of pinpoint bunker shots and the win was all the sweeter for coming on the back of a bad start which saw him four over after the opening three holes. He had a 60-foot eagle putt on the final hole that would have forced a playoff.
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McIlroy, No. 5 in the World Golf Rankings, finished at 15-under 269 to join Fiji’s Vijay Singh as the only two-time Deutsche Bank winners (2004, 2008).
