Rory McIlroy Wins Second FedEx Cup For $15m Bonus
The 30-year-old capped an excellent season with victory at the Tour Championship to lift the FedEx Cup for the second time
The 30-year-old capped an excellent season with victory at the Tour Championship to lift the FedEx Cup for the second time
Rory McIlroy Wins Second FedEx Cup For $15m Bonus
Rory McIlroy outlasted Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas to win the FedEx Cup for the second time.
The four-time Major winner began the final round one behind Brooks Koepka but a four under par 66 saw him win by four strokes at East Lake.
Rory birdied the 6th and 7th before more birdies at the 12th and 13th to separate himself at the top but bogeys at 14 and 15 pegged him back.
By that point, he was two ahead of Xander Schauffele after Brooks Koepka made three bogeys in a row, and a crucial par save on 16 kept him in front.
McIlroy said he was trying to "stop the bleeding" but found a bunker and a bad lie off the tee on 16 before holing a clutch six footer.
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He then birdied 17 to ultimately seal the deal and also birdied 18 for the four stroke victory.
The 30-year-old becomes just the second player to win the FedEx Cup twice, after Tiger Woods, with McIlroy also winning it in 2016.
"I thought about the final group with Tiger last year, the final group with Brooks in Memphis a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to go out there and play well and really take it to him, and I did that for the most part," he said.
"I went out, shot 66 on a really tough golf course and got the job done.
"You know, really cool, really cool to put my name on this trophy for a second time. Any time you can do something that only Tiger has done, you're doing something right."
The Tour Championship counts as an official PGA Tour win, even with the staggered start, and he shot the lowest score of anyone this week so would have won the tournament and FedEx Cup either way.
"I was playing a little tournament inside my head," he said.
"I wasn't necessarily looking at the leaderboard the way it was. I was just trying to look at it from, okay, well, Xander is 9-under for the week and I'm 9-under, 8-under. I was just trying to play the tournament as if there was no staggered start.
"I think that, and then going out in the final group and shooting 66 alongside the No. 1 player in the world when he got the better of me a few weeks ago in Memphis, I think those two things are probably what I'm most proudest of."
McIlroy ends the 2018/19 PGA Tour season with three victories, the FedEx Cup, 14 top 10s from 19 starts and some incredible statistics.
He was 1st in Stroked Gained: Total, 1st in SG: Off the tee, 1st in SG: Tee to green and 1st in Scoring Average.
He now has 17 PGA Tour victories and won a total of $24.3m for the season.
The victory moves him back up to 2nd in the world after starting the year in 8th.
2018/19 FedEx Cup standings -
1. Rory McIlroy
2. Xander Schauffele
3. Justin Thomas
4. Brooks Koepka
5. Paul Casey
6 Adam Scott
7 Tony Finau
8 Chez Reavie
T9 Patrick Reed
T9 Kevin Kisner
T9 Hideki Matsuyama
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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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