Wilson Gets First Tour Title; McIlroy Ends up Stroke Back


Oliver Wilson closed with a 2-under 70 Sunday on the Old Course at St. Andrews to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The victory for the 34-year-old Brit was the first of his career.

Wilson finished at 17-under 271 - which uses Carnoustie and Kingsbarns in addition to the Old Course at the pro-am-style tournament, a shot ahead of Scotland's Richie Ramsay (67), England's Tommy Fleetwood (68) and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (68).

Wilson had lost his European Tour card in 2011 and was playing this week on a special invitation. He came into the event ranked 792nd in the world. "So many people had written me off and that hurt, but I kept believing," he told reporters.

"A lot of people had a part in this and I can't thank them enough. This is pretty special. It's been a long time coming and I have a lot of champagne on hold. It's going to be a good party. To have the invite to play here, I can't thank people enough.

"When I came here at the start of the week I was just trying to make the cut and each day my confidence grew. I didn't play as well today, but I finished second in 2009 and I knew what to do and I was pleased how I stood up to hit some really good shots."

McIlroy, ranked No. 1 in the world, got off to a rocky start when his approach spun back into the Swilcan Burn on the par-4 first hole and he ended up with a double-bogey. But the 25-year-old rebounded nicely with four straight birdies to make the turn in 2-under 34. On the home half, McIlroy carded three more birdies but bogeyed the famed 17th, the "Road Hole," to finish just short of forcing extra holes with Wilson.

"I feel like I cost myself the tournament today," said McIlroy, who won two of golf's four majors this year and was named the Player of the Year on by both the PGA of America and the PGA Tour, an honor he's expected to repeat in Europe.

"They are the only mistakes that I made all day. I didn't leave myself much of a chance on the Road Hole. If you're going to miss it, you need to miss it right there and I didn't. I love this golf course. I feel like I play well here every time I tee it up, so I am looking forward to coming back here in July and defending the Open Championship," he added about the 2015 British Open at the Old Course.

The ever-classy McIlroy also tipped his cap to the winner. "I'm disappointed with the result obviously, but it has been a really successful week. I nearly got it done and it was great to be playing well in front of such a great home crowd. You have to take your hat off to Ollie - he got the job done in what was a huge week for him and he has really turned his career around."

Finishing in fifth at 273 was Scotsman Chris Doak (66), while tied for sixth at 14-under were South Africans Richard Sterne (67) and Louis Oosthuizen (68) and Ireland's Shane Lowry (67). American Brooks Koepke (68) shared ninth with Scotland's Chris Wood (70).

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014078/leaderboard/index.html.