Rory McIlroy: Open Champion
Pictures of Rory McIIroy, the 2014 Open Championship winner, following his final-round 71 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Pictures of Rory McIroy, the 2014 Open Championship winner, following his final-round 71 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Rory McIlroy came through a tough final day at Royal Liverpool Golf Club to secure his third major and first Open Championship.
McIlroy is only the third player in golf's history - along with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus - to have won three major championships by the age of 25.
He stared the final round with a six-shot lead and birdied the first hole to settle any lingering nerves.
But Sergio Garcia birdied three of his first five holes, and after McIlroy dropped shots at 5 and 6, the gap was just two. What's more, only a good up and down from sand at the par-4 7th prevented a third consecutive bogey.
McIlroy holed a 15-footer for birdie at the par-3 9th and made a routine two-putt birdie at the par-5 10th to restore a sizeable advantage.
His lead slipped to two once more following a bogey at 12, but a Garcia dropped shot at the 15th effectively signalled the end of his challenge.
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From there, McIlroy birdied the 16th, saved par with aplomb at 17 and two-putted from short range at 18 to secure a significant and much-deserved Open Championship victory.
Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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