Rory McIlroy roared from six shots off the pace in the final round to win the Deutsche Bank Championship.
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McIlroy was four over through the first three holes of the championship, but he roared back into contention at the weekend before sealing victory with a six under par final round of 65.
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.
McIlroy, who had not tasted victory on the PGA Tour since the Wells Fargo Championship in May a year ago, pinpointed his remarkable recovery after a awful start to Friday’s opening round as key to his success at the TPC Boston.
After a bogey on 17 dropped his lead to one, McIlroy hit a attractive greenside bunker blast to two feet and tapped in the putt for a closing birdie to sign for 15 under and put himself two up.
McIlroy plays a brilliant bunker shot at the last hole to set up a tap-in birdie putt.
Brian Harman was second on 12 under after a 68, with Chappell (71), USPGA champion Jimmy Walker (70) and Smylie Kaufman (68) tied for third a stroke further back, and first-round co-leader Ryan Moore (68) sixth.
When Rory McIlroy’s golf is clicking, there’s not much to criticize.
“Last night (I knew I had a good chance to win this), last night, whenever I made that three – finished the round off on a really positive note yesterday”, he said.
The four-time major victor will rise 34 places in the FedEx Cup standings after this latest victory and will join the leading 70 players in the race at the BMW Championship next week.
“To me it looks like he hasn’t got so frustrated this year, he’s just kept doing his thing”.
Australian Adam Scott in action at the PGA in Norton, Massachusetts.
Patrick Reed, James Hahn and Argentina’s Fabian Gomez all tied for fifth place, 10 under for the tournament, five behind McIlroy. McIlroy’s personal triumph also represented a boost for Team Europe who need McIlroy at his fearsome best at Hazeltine between September 27 and October 2.
Another birdie at the 12th gave him the outright lead for the first time and, although he gave a shot back at the 17th, he finished positively with a four at the par-five 18th.
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Jason Day remains No. 1 in the world, and Johnson still sits at second. “That’s something I feel like I’ve got better at over the last three or four years”.
