Final round 66 earns four-shot victory for McIlroy as Koepka falters in Atlanta
Monday 26 August 2019 00:10, UK
Rory McIlroy collected the largest prize in golf history after he outplayed Brooks Koepka to be crowned FedExCup champion for the second time at The Tour Championship.
McIlroy had to complete 31 holes on the final day of the PGA Tour season following Saturday's disruption due to lightning strikes at East Lake, but he looked full of energy as he marched down the final fairway armed with a three-stroke lead.
The 30-year-old overcame a late stutter when he bogeyed the 14th and 15th to see his lead over Xander Schauffele reduced to two, but a clutch par-save at 16 settled his nerves and he effectively sealed the deal with his fifth birdie of the final round at the penultimate hole.
McIlroy enjoyed a victory stroll as he approached the final green, and he finished off in style as he holed a six-foot putt for birdie to cap a 66 for a winning score of 18 under par - emulating his dramatic win in Atlanta on the eve of the Ryder Cup three years ago.
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After returning to the sixth hole at 8am, McIlroy made the ideal start with a confidence-boosting birdie which he followed with another at the seventh and, after his third gain of the morning at the 12th, he handed the initiative back to Koepka with bogeys at 13 and 14.
But he got back on track with a birdie at 15 and finished his third-round 68 with a good four at the last to earn a place in the final pairing with Koepka, whose four-birdie 68 gave him a one-stroke advantage after 54 holes.
Koepka maintained his lead when he and McIlroy parred the first five holes of the final round and traded birdies at the sixth, but the tide turned in McIlroy's favour at the seventh when the world No 1 pulled his drive way left and was unable to locate his ball in the shrubbery.
The mistake led to a double-bogey six, and McIlroy made it a three-shot swing when he holed from 22 feet for birdie, although Koepka provided an instant response with an impressive bounce-back birdie at the eighth.
But Koepka, who got the better of McIlroy in their final-round duel at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational last month, then took himself out of contention after the turn when he bogeyed three in a row from the 12th, while McIlroy continued his serene progress with birdies at 12 and 13.
That left Schauffele, who aced the ninth midway through round three, as the McIlroy's closest challenger, and the 2017 champion got to 15 under when he birdied the 12th before a poor drive at the tough 14th led to his third dropped shot of the round.
However, McIlroy then missed the fairway at 14 and had to settle for bogey, and his tee-shot to the short 15th flirted with the water hazard and landed in the rear-right bunker, from where he splashed out to 15 feet and two-putted for another blemish which saw his lead whittled down to two.
McIlroy got into more trouble off the tee at 16 and was unable to reach the green in two from a fairway bunker, and his tentative chip pulled up eight feet short of the hole just as Schauffele knocked his approach to the 17th to 20 feet.
But McIlroy held his nerve to find the middle of the cup with his tricky left-to-right par putt and, after Schauffele missed his birdie attempt at 17, McIlroy drilled a crisp iron to the heart of the green and rattled in the putt for the birdie which slammed the door shut on his rivals.
A deflated Schauffele missed from six feet at the last to complete a disappointing 70, and McIlroy's trademark swagger was evident in his 563-yard march down the 72nd hole, and the closing birdie was barely in doubt despite finding a greenside bunker with his second.
Koepka's birdie at 17 was scant consolation as he parred the last for a 72 which left him in a share of third place with Justin Thomas, the leader at the start of the week closing with a 68 to finish five behind the champion.
Paul Casey was a further four strokes adrift in fifth after a damaging front-nine 38 derailed his challenge, while Adam Scott's classy 66 elevated him into outright sixth on eight under par.
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