McIlroy Nabs Third Major Title


Though it wasn't a record-setting romp, Rory McIlroy played well enough Sunday at Royal Liverpool to win the 143rd Open Championship. The 25-year-old Northern Irishman closed with a 1-under 71 to secure the third major title of his budding career.

McIlroy got off to a great start with a birdie on the first hole - one that he'd bogeyed the previous two rounds - before two straight bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6. Another birdie on the par-3 ninth made for an even-par 35 at the turn.

Two more birdies - on the par-5 10th and 16th - and a meaningless bogey on the par-3 13th gave the Ulsterman a 72-hole total of 17-under 271, two strokes ahead of Spain's Sergio Garcia and American Rickie Fowler, who shot 66 and 67, respectively.

McIroy entered Sunday at 16-under 200, within reach of the Open scoring record of 19-under (set by Tiger Woods at St. Andrews in 2000) and the all-time lowest total of 267 (set by Greg Norman in 1993 at Royal St. George's).

McIlroy, who began the final round with a six-stroke advantage over Fowler, will move to No. 2 when the world golf rankings, situated only behind Adam Scott. Though he came up short of establishing new Open records, McIroy was very pleased to earn the title of "Champion Golfer of the Year."

"It feels absolutely incredible," said McIlroy after receiving the fabled claret jug. "It's sort of cool that they put your name on there even before you get it. I'm happy I gave myself enough of a cushion today, because there was a lot of guys coming at me, especially Sergio and Rickie.

"Just to be sitting here and looking at (the claret jug) and having my name on it, it's a great feeling. It obviously hasn't sunk in yet. I'm going to enjoy it and let it sink in tonight in the company of my friends and family."

American Jim Furyk matched Sunday's low round of 7-under 65 to rise into solo fourth at 13-under 275, while another stroke back were Australians Scott (66) and Marc Leishman (65).

Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, knows that McIlroy can be very formidable when his game is on. "When he's in rhythm he's phenomenal," the 34-year-old said of McIlroy. "He doesn't have weaknesses and he has more strengths than most anyone else. When he's in rhythm, you'll see him shoot low numbers all the time.

"And (Saturday) he finished like a champion to pretty much take a little bit of heat off him today . . . It was probably tough for Rory out there today, but that's the advantage of having that extra power that he has."

McIlroy - who won the 2011 U.S. Open and 2012 PGA Championship - is the 17th golfer in history to win three Grand Slam titles. He also joins Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods - the all-time major winners with 18 and 14, respectively - as the only players age 25 or under to win three majors.

McIlroy is just a Masters win away from joining Nicklaus, Woods, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen with a career Grand Slam.

"I've really found my passion again for golf," said McIlroy, who overcame a recent propensity for second-round difficulties by opening with two straight 66s en route to becoming the wire-to-wire Open champion.

"Not that it ever dwindled, but it's what I think about when I get up in the morning. It's what I think about when I go to bed. I just want to be the best golfer that I can be. And I know if I can do that, then trophies like this are within my capability."

Despite not being able to overcome McIlroy's huge 54-hole lead, Garcia was pleased with his performance this week. "It's difficult when you're in a situation where you know you can't make a mistake. It just puts that little extra pressure," said Garcia, who has 19 top-10 finishes in 64 major starts but hasn't been able to get that elusive first title.

"But so many good things happened throughout this week. And even today I got a couple of really good breaks. At least I'm proud of the way I played. I wanted to at least make him feel a little bit of pressure and see how he would respond. And he obviously responded well. Every time I got closer, he kept making one birdie and not letting me get any closer than that . . . I felt like I did almost everything I could. And there was a better player. It's as simple as that."

Fowler, who played in the final group with the eventual champion, knew it was going to be tough to catch McIlroy, but he gave it a great try with a spotless scorecard that listed five birdies. "Rory just kind of distanced himself from the field a bit, especially with his finish (Saturday)," the 25-year-old Californian said.

"It's hard to be disappointed about it, because it was such a great week. And with the way I had been playing in the majors, there was some pressure to play well this week. But with how comfortable I've been, it doesn't feel like a big stage. It feels like I should be here.

"I'm definitely pleased with it. There's plenty more to come. I'll take 15-under in a lot of majors and sit there and wait in the clubhouse. Congratulations to Rory. He played awesome . . . to see him win was pretty cool."

South Africa's Charl Schwartzel closed with a 67 to take a share of seventh at 11-under 277 with Italy's Edoardo Molinari (68). Another stroke back were Ireland's Shane Lowry (65), Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (67) and Frenchman Victor Dubuisoon (70).

Tied for 12th at 279 were Americans Ryan Moore (68) and Dustin Johnson (72), and Sweden's Robert Karlsson (69).

Defending Open champion Phil Mickelson, another three-time major winner, closed with weekend rounds of 71 and 68 to end up tied for 23rd at 5-under 283.

In his first four-round tournament since undergoing back surgery in late March (he missed the weekend cut in his first event back, the Quicken Loans National in late June), Tiger Woods never really got untracked at Hoylake. He got off to a nice start with a 69, but closed with rounds of 77, 73 and 75 to end up in 69th place at 6-over 294.

Reigning U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer was even worse; the 29-year-old German shot rounds of 73, 72, 72 and 79 to finish third-from-last at 8-over 296.

Playing in the next-to-last British Open, a championship he's won five times, Tom Watson closed with a flourish, carding a 4-under 68 on Sunday to end up T-51 at 289.

For all the scores, visit http://www.theopen.com/en/Leaderboard.aspx.