Rory McIlroy admitted he had mixed emotions after completing a roller-coaster week by coming from seven shots back to win the PGA Championship at Wentworth, England, on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman — who announced his split from tennis star Caroline Wozniacki on the eve of the tournament — fired a sparkling six-under 66 for an aggregate of 274, 14-under, to win by a shot from Ireland’s Shane Lowry.
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn surrendered a five-shot lead by the time he had got to the seventh tee after a disastrous seven on the sixth, but still had a faint chance of victory after birdies at the 16th and 17th.
Photo: AFP
Bjorn, aiming for his 16th European Tour victory, finished with a 75 and had to settle for a share of third place along with England’s Luke Donald, with both finishing the final round on 276, 12-under.
“It been a weird week,” McIlroy said. “When I got inside the ropes it was a little bit of release — it gives you four or five hours of serenity. I can’t explain it — it has been a week of very mixed emotions, but I am sitting here looking at this trophy thinking: ‘How the hell did it happen?’”
McIlroy got his round going with an eagle three at the fourth, but was knocked back by bogeys at the sixth and ninth, before streaking home in 32.
He chipped in at the 10th for a two to go to 10-under and took the lead with a birdie at the 12th, before successive birdie fours at the par-five 17th and 18th holes.
On the 18th he hit his second into a greenside bunker, but chipped out to within five feet and punched the air when he holed the putt.
The 25-year-old has rarely performed well at Wentworth, having a previous best finish of fifth in 2009 and two missed cuts in the past two years.
“I came in here knowing I was playing well,” McIlroy said. “I have come here the last couple of years and I have been struggling with my game, but I was excited to come here again because I knew my game was in good shape. I was looking forward to this week and it does my confidence the world of good being able to get the job done under pressure.”
McIlroy’s comeback from seven shots off the pace equals the record for the event after Simon Khan did a similar rescue job in 2010.
It is also the first time McIlroy has won a European Tour event actually held in Europe.
Third-placed Donald paid tribute to his Ryder Cup teammate, and believes McIlroy’s decision to make a clean and public break with Wozniacki may have helped him.
“We all know what he has been going through and sometimes making those tough decisions can take a weight off your mind. He can engulf himself in the golf and he obviously played very well,” Donald said.
“He is at a place where he can’t even make the cut usually, but he goes on to win it — that’s the beauty of the game,” Donald said.
Henrik Stenson boosted his chances of becoming world No. 1 when he eagled the par-five 17th and finished on 280, eight-under, and in a tie for seventh, but world No. 1 Adam Scott won the Colonial Invitational in Texas later to retain top spot.
Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher surged up the board to finish in a tie for fifth alongside England’s Simon Dyson, while Germany’s Marcel Siem had a 68 to finish in a share of seventh with Stenson, South Africa’s Thomas Aiken, Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal and Francesco Molinari of Italy.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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