Casey has not won anywhere in more than two years and has not won on the PGA Tour since his only win in Houston in 2009. And, then, having recovered to make a charge over the weekend, McIlroy still went into the final round playing catch-up on Casey.
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“Wow, very impressive. Yeah, that’s a might round of golf”, Casey said of McIlroy’s finish.
“I think if you had said to me after three holes on Friday that I would be sitting up here addressing you guys as the victor of this tournament, I would have told you to go somewhere, I think”, McIlroy said Monday.
The 27-year-old German player rebounded from an opening double bogey to make nine birdies in a 5-under 67.
Another birdie at the 16th saw him take the outright lead before he managed to extend his advantage with an eagle at the last, narrowly missing out on an albatross after his second shot just rolled wide of the hole.
“It is fantastic to think how I started this tournament and what was going through my mind after three holes”. “And then the wind gusted and it went right”.
He was at 15-under 198.
He produced a final round of 65 to finish on 15-under-par, overtaking England’s overnight leader Paul Casey, who finished two-shots behind.
“It is nice to get that first win in the States this year and hopefully this momentum I can obviously bring on to the next couple of weeks and ultimately the Ryder Cup to help team Europe win another”.
“It was absolutely an awesome round of golf in those conditions”, said Casey in tribute to McIlroy’s performance.
McIlroy plays a brilliant bunker shot at the last hole to set up a tap-in birdie putt. “It’s more about survival and just doing the best you can”. It’s been a great lesson for me this week not to get down on myself, to stay patient.
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.
Still, his runner-up showing moved Casey to 10 on the FedEx Cup points list and virtually assured him a spot at the Tour Championship.
Ranked 38th in the Fed-Ex Cup after the Barclays last week he jumped to fourth in the standings with the win, pushing Adam Scott down one position to fifth.
The play-offs now move to Crooked Stick GC in IN for the BMW Championship.
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McIlroy, who had not tasted victory on the PGA Tour since the Wells Fargo Championship in May previous year, pinpointed his remarkable recovery after a terrible start to Friday’s opening round as key to his success at the TPC Boston.
