PGA Tour Players Championship final scoreboard https://www.theplayers.com/
As predicted right here, Rory survived the calamity lurching towards the finish line at this 2019 Players, it was very pretty at times... pretty ugly at others, which is what TPC Sawgrass will do to you, and did to most of the contenders on a very entertaining St Patricks Day Sunday.
For the leaders it was a struggle early on but nobody from below was charging...
There is an old Irish ditty " I don't want her you can have her,, it's alright by me.."
That's the way Sunday was in the early rain... Nobody grabbed hold of the event.. All the leaders struggled early on letting the contented contenders back in !!!
As usual at TPC Sawgrass it is a marathon... so it came right down to an exciting finish with Rory edging US Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk (64 67 weekend) by a shot to win. I'm sure JF is just a little tired of Rory, after this and the drubbing he took in Paris.
McIlroy made two late birdies to regain the lead, was at his best when the pressure was the highest, and he closed with a -2 70 for a one-shot victory
Furyk now 48, nearly pulled off an upset as he capped off his 67 with a 7-iron into the 18th that came down 3 feet from the hole for a birdie to take the lead.
As for Rory, he'd made bogey at the 14th then drove into the bunker at the 15th, but ala Tiger at the 18th in the 2000 Canadian Open, he drilled a 6-iron from 180 to within 15 feet which he called “the best shot of the day, by far,”after he made the birdie 3 to tie.
At 16 he hammered a 350 yard drive on the par-5 16th, that left him a short iron to 20 feet for another birdie and the lead.
He made par on 17, then , nailed another huge drive down the 18th fairway to set up the win at -16-under 272 and another $2.25 million for his never overdrawn bank account !
Remember, as I mentioned yesterday Rory had not finished worse than T6 in his five previous starts and the copy cat media were after him, questioning his new found attitude governing his performances.
There were eight different leaders all in a pack separated by two shots on SSunday afternoon, so the winner wasn't clear until Rory's drive at the final hole.
“I think the toughest part is seeing yourself up there, whatever score you’re on, and seeing 10 or 11 guys with a chance, I guess that was the hardest thing was just getting yourself to the point mentally where you say, ‘Well, why not me? This is my tournament. I’m going to finish it off.”’
Eddie Pepperell of England, in his Sawgrass debut, ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to briefly share the lead sensationally capped by a putt from just inside 50 feet on the 17th. Next came Jhonattan Vegas to the island green to hole one from 70 feet, the longest putt made on the island green that gave him a share of the lead, too
Nick Taylor had a great Sunday, -5 67 T16th -10, his best result this season on TOUR. Corey Connors 74 -4 T41.
While the bookies have Tiger as the early Masters favourite, you'd best not bet against Rory now that he's made it to the winners circle again.
Bryan Angus
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