Rory McIlroy defended his Canadian Open (AEST) title on Monday before burning LIV Golf leader Greg Norman in a wild post-round interview.
McIlroy won his 21st PGA Tour title amidst shrill scenes at St George’s where the Northern Irishman held on to the big pistols Tony Finau and Justin Thomas to win with a score of 19 below.
In the win, McIlroy, who has been one of the most vocal critics of LIV Golf, noted that the victory surpassed him once again beyond the total of 20 victories in Norman’s PGA Tour.
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“21st PGA Tour victory, one more than another. That gave me a little extra incentive today …,” McIlroy said.
If there was any doubt about who that “someone else” was, social media claimed there was no escape for the great Australian.
The Canadian Open coincided with the first event of the LIV Golf Invitational series, funded by Saudi Arabia, in which Charl Schwartzel claimed $ 6.7 million to win the individual and team events at the Centurion Golf Club .
Norman praised the event as a success, and LIV Golf promises to increase even further later this month when Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed join the runaway tour.
But the Canadian Open proved that the PGA Tour remains in good health with the vast majority of the best players in the world still present.
McIlroy defended his RBC Canadian Open title on Monday. Source: AFP
In the face of massive crowds and vocals, McIlroy won in a high-scoring affair as he played alongside the reigning PGA Championship winner and world No. 6 Thomas and No. 18 Finau.
“It’s amazing. Playing with Tony and JT today, two of the best players in the world,” McIlroy said.
“All of us who played like we did, I think the worst score in the group was six under par. This is a day I will remember for a long, long time. “
Now, several members of LIV Golf will return to the United States to face their former colleagues at the U.S. Open in Brookline this weekend.
MCILROY MARCHES THE SECOND OPEN CROWN OF THE STRAIGHT CANADA
McIlroy shot 10 birdies in a 62 of eight below to win twice, defending the title he won in 2019.
He survived a few moments of tension in the back, closing with birdies on the 17th and 18th to seal the victory with a total of 19 under par of 261.
Finau, who started the day tied for the lead, pinned his sixth birdie of the day at 18 for a six under 64 that put him in second place with 263, once ahead of fellow American Thomas.
Thomas was tied for the lead with two to play, but closed with consecutive bogeys at 64 for 265.
McIlroy set an early tone with a 26-foot birdie at first. He added a four-foot to the fourth, then chipped in the sixth and made a short bird in the seventh, then got very hot with the birds in the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th, where he dumped a 39-foot page.
But Thomas did not let him escape. After a birdie in the second, the American made six birds in a row from the sixth to the 11th. His bird at the age of 14, after McIlroy at 13, saw the Northern Ireland star’s lead shrunk to a single blow.
After McIlroy made a bogey 16 they were tied at 17 under, but McIlroy finished with a flourish while Thomas fainted and Finau drained a 40-foot putt into hole 72 to snatch the second solo.
Englishman Justin Rose offered a backdrop to the final group’s fireworks at the St George’s Golf Club and Field Course, Par 70, in the suburbs of Toronto.
Justin Rose was just a shot away from breaking the 60. Source: AFP
Rose flirted with the 13th round under-60 of PGA Tour history, but an 18-year-old bogey saw him settle for a 10 under par 60 tournament record.
Rose threw her round in spectacular style with a birdie hole from the fairway to the first. He added a seven-foot birdie to the second, a two-foot to the fifth, and a chip to the seventh before a bogey to the ninth, where he was in a street bunker.
– Slip of the last hole –
The push continued behind the new one with a 17-foot birdie in the 10th, a 30-foot eagle in the 11th and a two-foot birdie in the 12th after a chip of a deep rough.
He rolled at six feet at 14 before his third eagle of the day at 15 moved him to 11 below. But Rose couldn’t get up and down from a bunker on the green side at 16 years old.
Still, he returned to 11 under after a birdie at 17, but after his starting pitch ran out right next to the fairway at 18, his second shot flew the green and closed with a bogey. .
Rose, who had a real chance not only at 59, but even at Jim Furyk’s PGA record 58, admitted it was a disappointing ending “because you know what’s at stake, for sure.
“I never threw 59, so it would have been a lovely footnote during the week,” added Rose, who finished fourth in a tie with Sam Burns, five shots from the lead.