With the win, McIlroy goes from 38th place in the FedEx Cup all the way up to fourth, locking up his spot in the Tour Championship.
Advertisement
RORY McILROY HAS ended his victory drought on the PGA Tour as a stunning final round saw him claim a two-shot victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
The world number five produced a superb final round 65 in Boston to win by two shots.
Halfway through the FedEx Cup play-offs and McIlroy is now bang in contention to win the $10million bonus on the Sunday before the Ryder Cup.
Englishman Casey, who last week missed out on a wildcard spot for the Ryder Cup, could only manage a 73 in his final round to finish second, while US PGA Championship victor, Jimmy Walker, finished third on 12 under. That left him with a bogey that pushed him back to 13 under, two shots behind McIlroy.
Adam Scott and 2016 PGA Championship victor Jimmy Walker finished in a tie for third on 11-under.
“This has given me a real shot at trying to win that FedExCup for the first time”, he said.
“I’m just really proud of myself at how I hung in after that first day, and then to get some momentum on Saturday, and just go with it”.
– Rory McIlroy believes he’s reached a turning point in his season, but his “Aha!” moment came well before hoisting the Deutsche Bank Championship trophy Monday afternoon. “His strong putting continued today, as he splashed home three putts from outside nine feet including an 18-footer for birdie at the par-3 eighth and a 22’5” birdie bomb at the par-4 14th.
“It’s unbelievable in this game how things can change so quickly from being 4 over after three holes”. Interestingly, when McIlroy last won the Deutsche Bank at TPC Boston in 2012, he went onto the win the BMW the following week at Crooked Stick, which was the last time that course hosted the event.
“I’ve just not been as positive about the situation as I could have been”, McIlroy said.
A dropped shot on 17 created some drama – Casey, playing two groups behind, was just one back as McIlroy stood over the 18th tee – but a birdie on the last provided McIlroy with a cushion. I think when people make judgements or criticisms without being educated on the subject that they’re criticizing, I think that’s like for me getting in the gym, for example, that’s my pet peeve.
Olympic champion and world No. 10 Justin Rose of England stumbled to a two-triple-bogey 79, falling to a tie for 57th at 14 back.
It seems silly to doubt a player who is ranked fifth in the world and only a Masters short of a career Grand Slam.
Advertisement
World No 1 Jason Day had 67 to finish 8-under while the remaining two Australians in the field, Marc Leishman (67) and Aaron Baddeley (75), have scraped into the third round of the play-offs, the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick in IN, by virtue of being in the top 70.
