World No.1 blows $26m with report implosion

He had the ultimate say together with his golf equipment.

Six pictures behind earlier than the Tour Championship began, 10 pictures again after two holes, McIlroy rallied from a six-shot deficit within the ultimate spherical towards the present No.1 participant on the planet and closed with a 4-under 66 to change into the primary three-time winner of the FedEx Cup.

“It’s been a tumultuous time for the world of men’s professional golf in particular,” he stated.

“I’ve been in the thick of things. I guess every chance I get, I’m trying to defend what I feel is the best place to play elite professional golf in the world.

“It’s in some ways fitting that I was able to get this done today to sort of round off a year that has been very, very challenging and different.”

It came at the expense of Masters champion Scheffler, the No.1 who birdied four of six holes to finish the storm-delayed third round at 66 and build a six-shot lead. Not even McIlroy, who birdied the last two holes in the morning to get into the final group, thought he had a great chance.

But then Scheffler never regained his groove, missing fairways and greens and par putts. He made only one birdie in a closing round of 73 and tied the PGA Tour record for losing a six-shot lead in the final round.

“I just didn’t get off to a good start early, but after that I grinded as hard as I could,” Scheffler said. “For whatever reason my swing wasn’t where it had been the first few days this week.”

Smith’s ‘miracle’ strategy units up eagle

McIlroy had a 17-under 263 for his uncooked rating, the most effective of the week. He began at 4 underneath because the No.7 seed and completed at 21 underneath to seize the $26 million bonus.

Sungjae Im fell again with a double bogey on the 14th gap and nonetheless managed a 66 to tie for second with Scheffler. They earned $8.4 million.

McIlroy referred to the ultimate spherical as a “spectacle”, and not just because of the pro-McIlroy crowd that chanted his name along the closing holes.

“Two of the best players in the world going head-to-head for the biggest prize on the PGA Tour, and I hope everyone at home enjoyed that,” he said.

“I feel like Scottie deserves at least half of this. He has had an unbelievable season, I feel sort of bad that I pipped him to the post.”

McIlroy needed plenty of help from Scheffler, who never trailed until the 70th hole. Scheffler looked out of sorts early, and McIlroy capitalised. With three straight birdies, he tied him on the seventh hole. And then it was a nail-biter to the end.

It was a stunning display at East Lake that turned on two shots.

McIlroy holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 15th hole to tie for the lead.

After he flew the green by some 20 yards on the 16th, his pitch was running fast and headed off the front of the green when it hit the pin and settled seven feet away. He saved par. Scheffler blasted out of a bunker to just inside 10 feet and missed, making bogey that put him behind for the first time all week.

Scheffler badly misread a 10-foot birdie chance on the 17th to tie, sending the Tour Championship to the final hole with $26 million on the line.

Scheffler’s 4-iron on the par-5 18th sailed short and right and into a bunker, and he blasted out over the green. McIlroy went left against the grandstand, took relief and got onto the green for an easy par.

“I wanted to win the season-long title,” Scheffler stated. “I’ve had a really great year and I wanted to finish it off with a win here, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that.”

McIlroy gained the FedEx Cup in 2016 in a playoff. He gained the FedEx Cup once more in 2019, the primary 12 months of a staggered begin.

This might need been the sweetest of all, coming off a 12 months wherein the PGA Tour has been in a nasty battle with LIV Golf, which already has attracted some two dozen gamers and now’s a part of an antitrust lawsuit towards the PGA Tour.

It was McIlroy who has declared fierce loyalty to the PGA Tour over the previous couple of years when rival leagues had been coming right into a view. And it was McIlroy who joined Tiger Woods in main a momentous player-only assembly final week that led to important modifications forward for the tour.

So, sure, this had an additional stage of satisfaction.

And no, he did not thoughts the burden he carried because the de facto voice of the tour.

“If you believe in something I think you have to speak up, and I believe very strongly about this. I really do,” McIlroy stated. “I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf. I hate it.

“I think when you believe that what you’re saying is the right things, you’re happy to stick your neck out on the line.”

Even on the Tour Championship, usually a celebration of the tip of the 12 months, there was discuss all weekend of extra defections coming within the subsequent few days. The Daily Telegraph reported three weeks in the past that British Open champion Cameron Smith was leaving for LIV Golf, and renewed studies over the weekend confirmed as a lot.

Two individuals conscious of the strikes stated Harold Varner III, Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri are leaving. They spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of it has not been introduced. Cameron Tringale introduced his choice on Twitter.

Still to be decided is Joaquin Niemann, whose supervisor stated the Chilean would focus on the choices together with his father later Sunday.

“Everyone on tour has had to deal with a lot. Even the guys that have went to LIV have had to deal with a lot. It’s just been a very tumultuous sort of era in our game,” McIlroy stated.

“This is the best place in the world to play golf. It’s the most competitive. It’s got the best players. It’s got the deepest fields. I don’t know why you’d want to play anywhere else.”

With all that hypothesis, the Tour Championship that a runaway became a dynamic present. And in the long run, the tour’s greatest voice had its greatest trophy.

For a each day dose of the most effective of the breaking information and unique content material from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our e-newsletter by clicking right here!

The stars who’ve signed with Greg Norman’s LIV Golf tour