“If Tiger [Woods] comes to stand next to me and watches me play golf, I don’t think I’d get nervous”. His chip over a ridge raced well past the hole, and it looked as though McIlroy would only have to two-putt for the victory.
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Also practising on a chilly and windy Tuesday at Hazeltine National, American captain Davis Love III sent his players out in three groups that gave an early hint of possible pairings for Friday’s opening foursomes session.
McIlroy takes a good bit of confidence into the Ryder Cup after his playoff victory on Sunday at the Tour Championship, where he also captured the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup.
The fourth hole saw McIlroy play a breathtaking approach shot to within 14-feet, and after Moore slotted home his par putt, the Northern Irishman was left with a birdie putt for FedEx Cup glory. “I just couldn’t get anything going here this weekend”.
Landing in the bunker, he splashed it out to within a few feet of the hole, and made the required birdie to set up a three-way play-off.
McIlroy closed with a birdie on the 18th to post a four-round total of 12-under-par and that was matched by his playing partner Ryan Moore. The second time he went to the 16th – a little less than two hours later – McIlroy picked up about $11.5 million.
All three players won during their rookie seasons, with Grillo and Kim both advancing to the season-ending Tour Championship.
It just didn’t work out that way. But he won the 15th hole to square the match, and earned a half-point when he got out of a bunker on the second try and saved par. Then I’ll take a break from December through until mid to end February, and I’ll start back up at the end of the West Coast swing. Moore, though, holed his tricky birdie effort to keep the pressure on McIlroy.
World number 31 Moore was chosen by United States captain Davis Love as his final wild card on Sunday, three hours after losing out to Rory McIlroy in a play-off for the Tour Championship.
“There’s a lot of things that had to go well for me today, along with me playing well”, the four-time major victor said after the round. “When you put your mind to it, great things happen”.
After the task force made its recommendations, responsibility was handed down to a Ryder Cup committee and even now, on the eve of competition, there is still an active sub-committee of sorts as world number seven Bubba Watson, who did not receive Love’s final wildcard pick made on Sunday, was made the fifth assistant captain.
Rory McIlroy was delighted at achieving one of his long-term goals by winning the Tour Championship and overall FedExCup title.
“If Rory didn’t win, I would still win, if Ryan or Kevin would have won”. “I think I knew pretty well what I needed to do last week, and I kind of did it”, Moore said with a chuckle.
The real heartache belonged to Chappell, who played superbly for so long until one tee shot on the 17th tumbled into the nasty rough and led to bogey.
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It was his fourth runner-up finish this season, in which he made more than $4.5 million but still doesn’t have a PGA Tour trophy.
