Adam Scott ended up in fourth after matching McIlroy’s round of 65. For Scott, his 65 catapulted him 19 spots up the leaderboard into outright fourth. Success at TPC Boston has put him in a great position; it’s just a stepping stone but a big step. But even he admitted later: “If it was like this at home, I’d be reluctant to play”. No one has to tell Rory McIlroy that.
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While McIlroy was brilliant, his surge to breaking his victory drought was made easier by the fall of the leading contenders.
Only a month ago at the final major of the season, the PGA Championship, McIlroy described his work on the greens as pathetic. That left him with a bogey that pushed him back to 13 under, two shots behind McIlroy.
“Wow, very impressive. Yeah, that’s a mighty round of golf”, said Paul Casey, who had to settle for a runner-up finish.
He had been ranked 130th for putting after a disappointing summer.
Ahead of the tournament, the Northern Irishman changed his putter and brought in a new putting coach after struggling on the greens this year.
The 27-year-old rolled in his sixth birdie putt of the day from 22 feet for his second three of the tournament at 12, where he carded a seven on day one and a double-bogey six in the third round.
“Things can turn around really quickly in this game and they did this week”. “It’s been a great lesson for me this week not to get down on myself, to stay patient”. “I just needed to do something with the putting”.
McIlroy held on to win by two strokes over Paul Casey, securing his 12th PGA TOUR title and second at TPC Boston. He stormed from six shots back for his second Deutsche Bank title.
McIlroy ended his 16-month title drought on the U.S. tour with his two-shot victory from overnight leader Paul Casey (73) as he defied blustery conditions to finish at 15-under 269. He did birdie the seventh, but missed a short par putt at the 11th and dropped another shot at 14. His return at the Barclays last week was tentative, five missed putts from inside five feet. “It’s pretty cool”, McIlroy said. “It shows you just how good Rory is. And this obviously is the last time Deutsche Bank is sponsoring it, so I get to keep it”. “I never felt like I had any rhythm”.
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.
The BMW Championship runs September 8-11 at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Indiana.
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“It is one of the last things I would like on my golf CV – to win the FedEx Cup”, said the four-time Major victor.
