McIlroy played the last two holes on Sunday at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, as he finished 19 points ahead of Americans Tony Finau and Justin Thomas.
It came at a time when much of the sport’s focus has been on the inaugural event of the LIV Golf series, backed by Saudi Arabia, at the Centurion Club near London.
“This is a day I will remember for a very, very long time: the 21st victory of the PGA Tour, one more than anyone else,” McIlroy told CBS. “That gave me a little more incentive today and I’m glad I did.”
The comments seemed to allude to the 20 victories of the PGA Tour of the Australian Norman, who is the face of the LIV Golf series.
Later, at the start of his press conference, McIlroy, a vocal supporter of the PGA Tour since news broke of the separatist series, also commented that he now has one more PGA Tour victory than Norman.
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The last day in St. George’s, near Toronto, was a tense subject. World No. 3 McIlroy started the day tied for the lead with Finau, while Thomas was twice behind in a three-way tie for the second.
McIlroy had a three-shot lead at one point, but missed a series of short putts to find himself tied with Thomas at 17 under after 16 holes.
However, he got on his nerves to finish with two shots in front of Finau and take home $ 1,566,000 in prizes.
Thomas made consecutive bogeys in holes 17 and 18, which allowed Finau to take second place on his own.
Englishman Justin Rose briefly got into contention on Sunday when he shot a remarkable 10 under par 60 to finish tied for fourth.
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McIlroy becomes the first player to win a minor PGA Tour event in two different fields since Jim Furyk made it to the Canadian Open in 2006 and 2007.
It also places him among the favorites to win the U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts, when the tournament begins on Thursday.
“Overall, I thought it was a great week to prepare for the U.S. Open,” McIlroy told reporters. “There’s no better way to prepare for a golf tournament than to be in competition, having to hit the shots when you need to. This week I’ve shown that I can do it.”