No need to look hard to see why McIlroy is back in the winner’s circle.
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McIlroy was four-over par after his first three holes on Friday before recovering to lead the field in both driving distance and putting average to finish 15-under par.
“He just waits. and he kept doing his thing”, Scott said.
A distant six strokes behind overnight leader Paul Casey heading into the final round at the TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts, McIlroy fired a sparkling six-under-par 65 in blustery conditions on Monday to post a 15-under total of 269.
It was McIlroy’s first tournament win since he won the Irish Open at Carton House in May.
On top of this being a statement victory in a year of struggles, McIlroy did it in a sublime manner.
There were some tiddlers butchered in Boston, too, and a brutal 12th hole which cost him a triple bogey on the opening day and a double on the third. “It is nice to get that first win in the States this year”, he said.
“It is incredible to think how I started this tournament and what was going through my mind after three holes, and then all of a sudden standing here four days later with a trophy”, he said about the bogey and triple that featured in his opening three holes.
Somehow, he would fight to even par by the end of the first round, despite that big blow.
McIlroy has secured the third position in the next set of world rankings. “I found something”, he said. 8 and 9 to go out in 5-under 31. He indeed did that with a birdie at 12 followed by the bogey-birdie finish.
And with the temperatures having dropped appreciably ahead of Hermine making its presence felt, McIlroy turned up the heat on the final day picking up five birdies over his outward half including three in succession with the best being holing an 18-footer at the par three eighth hole.
Regardless, it was also a monumental week for McIlroy with the putter. The 27 year old went into the tournament ranked 130th in strokes gained in putting; here he was third.
One week after working with a new putting coach and changing putters, results came quickly for McIlroy. Talk about quick results.
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He displayed the form that allowed him to take the Tour by storm, winning his 10th PGA Tour event prior to his 26th birthday and joining Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only two players to reach double-digits wins by age 25. “That’s something I feel like I’ve got better at over the last three or four years”. “I will try and ride this momentum through to the Tour Championship and then hopefully once I do well there, maybe win the FedEx Cup, then turn my attention to the Ryder Cup”.
