TORONTO – As Rory McIlroy was about to hit a four-foot putt to defend his Canadian Open title, hundreds of fans who had come as close as security would allow them to reach No. 18 green; some fans stayed in the bunkers and one declared, beer in hand, “I love you so much, Rory!” “I was waiting for the champion to make it official.”
McIlroy rolled on that four feet and the thousands of spectators who had been asked to remain “silent please” immediately exploded, chanting “Rory! Rory! Rory!” almost for the first time on Sunday at the G&CC in Sant Jordi.
“Well, he was pretty stupid out there,” said a smiling McIlroy when it was all over, sitting next to the shiny silver Canadian Open trophy, where his name will be engraved for the second time. “I mean, the fans here this week have been absolutely amazing. So good and so cool to play in an atmosphere like this. Exciting, noisy, but respectful. It was very, very cool.”
McIlroy is now a perfect 2 of 2 in Canada, having played here twice and won both times. And yes, I would gladly accept honorary Canadian citizenship if anyone wants to offer it. On Sunday, he won the RBC Canadian Open as consecutively as possible, with a two-year gap between victories due to tournament cancellations due to COVID-19.
This was McIlroy’s No. 21 title on the PGA Tour, and he won it twice over American Tony Finau and four times over Justin Thomas, who posed the biggest threat of the day in the afternoon.
“It means a lot,” McIlroy said. “I feel like it’s getting harder and harder to win the PGA Tour. You just have to look at the two guys I played with today. I came out on top and I had to shoot 8 under par to get the job done. The depth of this Tour’s talent is really impressive – and facing guys like JT and Tony and coming out on top, that’s something to feel really good about.
“So happy to get this 21st victory, to defend, even though it doesn’t feel like a defense because it’s been so long,” he added.
These are not the only reasons this meant a lot to McIlroy. Given what’s happening in the golf world, with players like Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson jumping for the LIV Golf Invitational, backed by Saudi Arabia, McIlroy really wanted this one. And mostly because LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman only won the Tour 20 times, a fact McIlroy repeated several times after reaching No. 21.
“Yes, I wanted it a lot. I wanted it at the beginning of the day and there were a few different incentives,” said one of them to outdo Thomas and Finau.
“And then, look, I was alluding to it, I had extra motivation with what was going on on the other side of the pond,” McIlroy said. “The guy who is leading this [LIV] TOUR has 20 wins on the PGA Tour and I was tied with him and wanted to advance one. And I did. So it was really great for me, just a little bit of pride for that. “
McIlroy was very noticeable on Sunday. Wearing a combination of warm pink at the top and aqua blue at the bottom, made this combination of t-shirt and pants work, it really felt like owning the day at the beginning.
The “Rory!” The singing began in the first hole, when McIlroy drained his first of 10 birdies with a 26-foot putt. When he glanced at the number 6, his third bird of the day, he put his club in the air and nodded, his face straight, all clinically as the crowd roared.
There was a pop in McIlroy’s safe passage as the day progressed. He punched at number 12 after draining an incredible 39-foot birdie that left many fans with their jaws open. He was then -19, with a three-stroke lead.
But McIlroy opened the door with his first false step of the day a hole later when he missed a short putt and kicked his first bogey. He spoke to the hole after that foul. Thomas, the world number 6, started day two back and recorded six consecutive birdies on Sunday. He gave another one on the 14th, and after McIlroy stumbled on the 16th with a bogey on the famous Rink Hole, he and Thomas headed to number 17 all tied up.
“I let them in a little bit after getting the three-shot lead with a couple of missed shorts,” McIlroy said.
But on the 17th, McIlroy returned to own the day. He cut his approach shot at 17 from the short hard and hooked it to two feet to make a bird. Thomas hesitated there with his first bogey of the day, giving McIlroy a two-stroke lead around 18. And the Northern Irishman made the most of it, putting his focus back a few yards to victory. of the tap-in.
As he walked down the street with that confident pop in his path, McIlroy raised the putter in the air in recognition of the fans he had been applauding all week.
But before McIlroy drained his winning putt, Finau put one up from 42 feet and made the audience stand up. “They were definitely ready to get it this week,” Finau said of the Canadian crowds. “The fans were crazy.”
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario received a lot of support this week, and on Sunday climbed to the standings, scoring a 62 without a bogey of 8 under par to get a sixth place finish. It was by far his best day in St. Louis. George’s, and a new time improvement in his first round here Thursday. “Disappointed to fall a little short here, I didn’t get the most out of the game as much as I could the first few rounds,” Conners told the media afterwards. “But very positive at the U.S. Open next week.”
The man with the most positive mojo towards the major, of course, is McIlroy. The last Tour player to win a tournament and then go out and win a major next week? It was McIlroy, in 2014.
As for the green 18 scene, McIlroy has seen fans get out of safety before, and then he was just a spectator, playing alongside Tiger Woods in 2018, when the latter got his first victory in five years. . This time, he was more than just a spectator.
“As long as that happens and you can enjoy your walk and you know you have the tournament sewn together, you can enjoy it and enjoy it a lot,” he said. “It was a great scene on the 18th.”