McIlroy Leads Brilliant 1, 2 And T3rd European Finish On US Soil At Pebble

2 weeks ago by 0

Rory McIlroy brilliantly kick-started his PGA Tour new season claiming a 27th Tour victory at the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

In a tournament that begun with a McIlroy ace on the opening day ended with McIlroy displaying his enormous class right to the end of the $20m ‘Signature’ event in posting a closing 66 to win by two shots at 21-under.

Victory comes in just his second touranment since capturing last year’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, a win that also secured him a sixth Race to Dubai title.

As well, his Pebble success is also McIlroy’s overall his 42nd in the pro ranks while the whopping first prize of $3.1m is one of the largest, if not the largest, of his pro career.

And in a one, two and tied third European finish fellow Irishman and McIlroy’s close friend Shane Lowry was runner-up, birdieing the final hole in a 68 to grab second at 19-under.

Sharing third place at 18-under was England’s and 2023 Pebble Beach champ Justin Rose, who sensationally eagled the 72nd hole to tie American Lucas Glover who birdied his closing two holes in a score of 68.

And Austrian-born Sepp Straka, and also a member of Luke Donald’s winning 2023 European Team side, shared seventh place in a super showing where he led after both day two and three.

Donald, who will lead Europe into to competition later this year is sure to be enormously please and coming on top of England’s Laurie Canter, and a member last month of Rose’s GB&I winning Team Cup side, winning the Bahrain Golf Championship.

However, it was all McIlroy on day four and let’s not forget also becoming a second Northern Ireland-born golfer Pebble Beach winner after Graeme McDowell won the 2010 US Open on Fathers Day that year.

No sooner had a jubilant McIlroy entered the media centre and he was asked about the importance of winning on a major championship venue course.

“Yeah, look, I — there’s some venues in our game that just mean a little bit more than others and that’s probably to do with the history and the people that have — that have won on those courses and what those people have meant to the game of golf”, he said.

“I’ve had a few close calls at St. Andrews, which is another one of those important venues in our game. Augusta National being another one, too. So to be able to get a win on one of those iconic venues is awesome.

“It’s a very different test this week than what you would typically expect at a U.S. Open, so got to take it with a little bit of a pinch of salt. I finally feel that my game can travel to any sort of golf course in any conditions, in any setup really.

“I feel like I’m a very well rounded golfer and I can adapt to whatever I need to adapt to. I was able to show that this weekend, especially yesterday with those conditions”.



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