Rory McIlroy fires impressive 66 closing round to win his second Fed Ex Cup in four years
It's not unfair to judge golf's superstars exclusively by how many major championships they win ... until it is. Rory McIlroy is the best evidence we have that straddling this line between two worlds can be frustrating and difficult. McIlroy went out last with Brooks Koepka at the Tour Championship on Sunday, shot a 66 and won his second FedEx Cup in the last four years, making him just the third golfer to capture two or more (Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson).
In a reversal of their final round at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational a few weeks ago when Koepka dusted the Ulsterman, McIlroy didn't miss a shot. High, cutting drives, low, stinging bullet 3-woods, tight wedges, blitzed long irons. He almost literally hit the center of every single club face he looked at on Sunday, and he has the numbers (first in driving and first from tee to green this week) to back it up.
"It was pretty cool," said McIlroy regarding fans chanting his name on the way to the 18th green. "I must say, I didn't enjoy that walk last year like everyone else did. ... Going up against the No. 1 player in the world today, he got one over on me in Memphis, and I wanted to sort of get some revenge today. To play like that alongside Brooks, get the win and win the FedEx Cup, yeah, it's awesome. It's amazing how different hings can be in a year."
Following a 2-under 33 on the front nine, McIlroy effectively ended the event with birdies at Nos. 12 and 13 on the back to get to 18 under, running laps around the rest of the field. He bogeyed the next two, but it didn't matter. He made a clutch par at No. 16 and stuck the dagger in on No. 17 with a final birdie to go up three strokes with one hole to go. An additional birdie at 18 was just a cherry on top of his finial-round 66.
"My goal today was to go and win, not the normal tournament but win by even strokes. ... My goal was to just shoot the lowest score of the week. I think with the birdie on the last, I did that," McIlroy told NBC. "... It's such a cool way to end what has been for me a great season. I'll look back on this season [fondly]. There's a lot of good things I've done. Will try to improve for next year again."
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