It left Rory a little unsatisfied and everyone else greatly anticipating how he’d respond in 2016.
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England’s Danny Willett was a shot off the lead before driving into the water on the 18th, the resulting bogey dropping him into a share of third with McIlroy, who struggled to a 74 featuring just one birdie.
Scott, who was second to US star Bubba Watson at Riviera two weeks ago, took his 29th worldwide triumph and 13th US PGA event victory with a 72-hole total of 12-under 276 to edge two-time Masters champion Watson by a single shot at Doral’s Blue Monster course.
The effervescent Jang was tracked all the way by playing partner Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand, who scrambled brilliantly to stay in touch and closed with a bogey-free 68 but was thwarted once more in her latest attempt to win on tour.
His helicopter touched down on his Trump National golf property about a half-hour before the leaders teed off Sunday in the final round of the Cadillac Championship. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would attend today’s final round, though it was unclear how visible he would be or how much of the day he would spend at Doral.
He said: I’ve been saying all week that I’ve been making the birdies and I’ve been hitting the good shots. “When you’re that lucky, you better get them up and down”. But he bounced back with two birdies on the next three holes for a score of +1 on the front nine.
At Doral, he hasn’t been flawless, but he has been close enough. World No. 3 McIlroy required only 23 putts in his second-round 65, using 10 fewer putts than Thursday.
“I just played a really solid round of golf”, he told the Golf Channel after getting up and down from a greenside bunker to save par at the last hole. And he escaped brushes with the sand on each of his last two holes, keeping his mistake-free streak intact. “And I just couldn’t get a putt to go in”.
He then completed his round by securing pars at the remaining eight holes, which means he has failed to drop a shot during his last 33 holes and has moved onto 12-under-par. Scott chipped to 6 feet, made the par putt and moments later knew the win was his. “To do it in a round like this is very pleasing”. From there he popped a chip 8 feet past the hole, then made the putt for par. Scott eventually saved par, headed to the final hole with that one-shot lead – and put his tee shot in the right rough, a skinny palm tree impeding his path to the green.
It’s the first time Scott’s won back-to-back since his triumphs at the 2013 Australian Masters and Australian PGA. This time, his deficit is only three.
“Rory is obviously playing well”, Johnson said.
The 55-year-old Inkster was tied with Wendy Doolan, Lisa Grimes and Christa Johnson in the 36-hole event at Grandview Golf Course.
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“That’s going to be the hard thing for me to do is manage my expectations and also manage my game to keep it right here”.
