World number two Rory McIlroy with the Wells Fargo Championship trophy in Quail Hollow, the fourth time he has won the event. Image courtesy PGA Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
Rory McIlroy warmed up for the PGA Championship in perfect fashion, carving out a dominant five-stroke win at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte on Sunday,
Starting the day two shots behind overnight leader Xander Schauffele, the world number two displayed great distance and accuracy control for a 6 under par 65 at Quail Hollow and a tournament total of 17 under 267, the PGA Tour said.
Tokyo Olympic champion Schauffele (64-67-70-71) tallied 12 under 272 at the $20 million event in North Carolina. It was his 14th runner-up finish from 174t career starts, and the season’s second after the Players Championship in mid-March.
McIlroy unleashed a stunning burst midway through his round with two eagles and four birdies over an eight-hole stretch for his second win in successive events, having paired with Ireland’s Shane Lowry to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans two weeks ago.
“He’s Rory McIlroy, you know?” Schauffele said later. “He hits it 350 yards in the air downwind and he has shorter clubs into firm greens than anyone else. When he’s on, he’s on.”
The eight-hole run that swung the tide at Quail Hollow will also be great preparation for Valhalla, where McIlroy last won a major title in 2014 and sets him out to be a real challenge to the dominance of world number one Scottie Scheffler who will arrive in Louisville as a new father.
Wide margin
The 35-year-old McIlroy also won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour and was third at the Texas Open. Sunday’s win margin was his largest since the 2019 Canadian Open title, sealed his 26th PGA Tour title and a fourth victory at the Wells Fargo Championship.
“Whenever I sort of hit some of these milestones or do these things, I always think back to, for example, like 20-year-old me playing in this tournament for the first time,” McIlroy said afterwards.
“If I had known back then that this is the way everything was going to pan out, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Anytime things like this happen, I feel incredibly lucky and grateful that I have the opportunity to do what I do.
“I know what I’m capable of. Whenever I fire on all cylinders, this is what I can produce.”
Added the world number two, “I really got some confidence. My golf swing feels a lot more comfortable than it has. So going to a venue next week where I’ve won, it feels like the stars are lining up a little bit.
Tough task
“But I’ve got a lot of golf to play and a lot of great players to try to beat next week. Going into the next major of the year feeling really good about myself.”
Korea’s Byeong Hun An (66) was third on 9 under, ahead of countryman Sungjae Im who shared fourth place with Australia’s Jason Day (70).
Indian-Americans Akshay Bhatia was 42nd and Sahith Theegala T52. Both are in the field for the PGA Championships at Valhalla.
Schauffele was second at Quail Hollow for the second straight year and saw his winless drought stretch to 39 tournaments, a streak dating to 2022. In 174 tour starts he has now finished second 14 times..
An 32, set himself up for a strong showing at the year’s second major with seven birdies against two bogeys in his closing round even though he was eight back of the runaway McIlroy.
It was his fifth top-10 of the season, and a second in successive weeks after shared fourth place at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last weekend.
An is also a strong contender to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games in August and make the International Team for the Presidents Cup against the U.S in September.
Im, who started the final round four shots off the lead, endured a tough front nine 39 before salvaging the day for his second top-10 of the season after a tied fifth at the season-opening The Sentry in Hawaii.
Also read: McIlroy makes victorious Zurich Classic debut alongside Lowry
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