TOUR Championship:
With a dramatic birdie on the fourth hole of sudden death, World No. 3 Rory McIlroy eliminated World No. 42 Ryan Moore and won the TOUR Championship as well as the season-long race for the FedExCup (FEC), snaring his 13th PGA TOUR title in his 117th career start and pocketing the $10M FEC bonus.
The victory comes one start after a disappointing T42 at the BMW Championship, which dropped him from 4th to 6th in the FEC standings, where he lost to Dustin Johnson at Crooked Stick GC by 20 shots – on the course where he was defending champion.
This week, the 27-year-old flipped the script on Johnson et al. and reminded the golfing world just what he’s made of.
The Ulsterman began the final round in a two-way T3 on 6-under, two shy of 54-hole co-leaders Johnson and Kevin Chappell. Playing out of the penultimate twosome with Moore, he fired a week and season-tying-low 64, erasing one bogey with a hole-out eagle and five birdies, including a birdie-4 on the 72nd hole to match Moore and Chappell on 12-under 268.
In sudden death, McIlroy went toe-to-toe with Moore for three holes, agonizingly missing two earlier scoring chances to win, but finally dispatched the American with a right-to-left 15-foot birdie in fading daylight on the par-4 16th, the same hole in which he holed-out on from 137 yards away for eagle in regulation. His record in extra time improves to 1-2, having previously lost in playoffs at the 2014 Honda Classic and the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy kicked off with a birdie-bogey start, adding an up-and-down birdie-4 on the sixth to turn 1-under. The leaderboard at that point read:
1: Ryan Moore -11 (thru 10 holes)
2: Kevin Chappell -10 (thru 9)
3: Rory McIlroy -8 (10)
T4: Hideki Matsuyama -7 (11)
T4: Dustin Johnson -7 (9)
6: Paul Casey -6 (11)
After the break, he added back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 and came to the 16th trailing by three. Following a 317-yard drive to the right intermediate, McIlroy’s approach landed a couple of paces short and left of the target and after a couple of hops, spun into the right side of the cup and the game was on.
Following a drought of 68 weeks between wins 11 and 12, the Northern Irishman claimed his second TOUR title in his last three starts, having also heisted the Deutsche Bank Championship with a closing 65, erasing a six-shot deficit to win by two. It’s his sixth career triumph in come-from-behind fashion.
McIlroy now owns FOUR individual tournament wins in the FEC Playoffs which is the most all-time, surpassing Johnson and Tiger Woods who have three each.
It’s his second win of the season in 18 starts and eighth top 10, SEVEN of which are top 5s. He finished No. 4 on the money list with $5,790,585, $3.75M behind No. 1 Johnson, but was the top-earner in the Playoffs with $3,134,970.
McIlroy reaps 2,000 FEC points for the victory, jumping from 6th in the FEC standings to a career-best 1st, eclipsing a previous-best 2nd in 2012.
Top 6 in FEC standings entering the week:
1. Dustin Johnson (down one to 2nd)
2. Patrick Reed (down one to 3rd)
3. Adam Scott (down one to 4th)
4. Jason Day (down two to 6th)
5. Paul Casey (stayed at 5th)
6. Rory McIlroy (up five to 1st)
With a Strength of Field rating of 446, McIlroy banked 58.00 world-ranking points, maintaining his No. 3 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). The Top 5 in OWGR remained unchanged:
1. Jason Day
3. Rory McIlroy
This was the 10th playing of the TOUR Championship in the FEC era and 10th at East Lake GC in Atlanta, Georgia. The 7,385-yard par-70 layout (35-35) played over-par in Rounds 1 and 2, and under-par in Rounds 3 and 4, with a cumulative scoring average of 69.615.
McIlroy posted rounds of 68-70-66-64 for 10.417 SG: Total. He played his final 46 holes in 13-under with 12 birdies and one eagle versus just ONE bogey.
In total, McIlroy squared six bogeys and two doubles, but they ALL came on the front nine. He did not suffer a single blemish on the back nine all week, carding 13 birdies and an eagle.
Front Nine: +3
Back Nine: -15
Making his fourth appearance in the Playoffs finale, this was his third top 10 and first win, eclipsing a previous-best T2 in 2014, where he was a 54-hole co-leader but lost to Billy Horschel by three after a closing 71.
Note: In his previous three visits, he was in the top 5 thru 54 holes in ALL three, but shot final rounds of 74-71-74, respectively, making this 64 in the final frame all the more gratifying (and remarkable).
Winner’s Weekly Stats (ranking of 29 players):
Eagles: 1 (T2)
Birdies: 20 (1st)
Bogeys: 6 (T3)
Doubles: 2 (T18)
Par-3 Scoring: 3.00 (T8)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.83 (3rd)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.50 (T8)
Driving Distance: 314.7 yards (3rd)
Driving Accuracy: 30/56 (T28) at 53.57 percent
Greens in Regulation: 56/72 (2nd) at 77.78 percent
Proximity to Hole: 31’0” (4th)
Putts per GIR: 1.643 (3rd)
Total Putts: 115 (T14); by round: 29-27-32-27
Scrambling: 9/16 (13th) at 56.25 percent
SG: Off-the-Tee: 6.606 (1st)
SG: Approach-the-Green: 2.605 (6th)
SG: Around-the-Green: 1.633 (8th)
SG: Tee-to-Green: 10.843 (2nd)
SG: Putting: -0.426 (13th)
Golf Channel Perfect Picks ($3,030,250):
Group 1: Rory McIlroy (P1): $1,530,000
Group 2: Paul Casey (4th): $408,000
Group 3: Hideki Matsuyama (5th): $340,000
Group 4: Ryan Moore; Kevin Chappell (P2): $752,250
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
R1: Hideki Matsuyama; Kevin Chappell; Dustin Johnson (66)
R2: Russell Knox (66)
R3: William McGirt; Bubba Watson; Emiliano Grillo; Charl Schwartzel; Jason Dufner; Ryan Moore; Rory McIlroy (66)
R4: Paul Casey; Ryan Moore; Rory McIlroy (64)
Bogey-free Rounds:
R1: Kevin Chappell (66)
R2: NONE
R3: Rory McIlroy (66); Matt Kuchar (68); Kevin Chappell (68)
R4: Ryan Moore (64); Si Woo Kim (65); Adam Scott (65); Brandt Snedeker (67); Gary Woodland (67)
What We Learned:
The pre-tourney odds-favorite(s) won just TWICE this season in 46 events and Jordan Spieth claimed both of them, winning the Hyundai TOC and the DEAN & DELUCA.
If you (we) adhered to this thinking, you/we would’ve dipped one below the bookmaker’s top spot, Johnson at 9/2, to McIlroy, who won as an 11/2 pre-tourney outright.
Also, in each of the last FIVE postseasons, one player has won TWO tournaments. Based on that trend, the top choice(s) this week would’ve been Reed (won Barclays), or McIlroy (won Deutsche Bank), or Johnson (won BMW).
One more thing... in the 46 regular-season events, NO defending champion successfully defended their respective titles. Spieth was the defender this week and never factored, finishing T17 on even-par 280 (68-72-72-68), 12 shots in arrears of the three-man playoff.
The One-Week Break:
The one-week sabbatical between the penultimate Playoffs event (BMW) and the season finale was rejuvenating to all combatants for certain, but the person that benefitted the most (besides McIlroy perhaps) was:
Ryan Moore: The 33-year-old’s T64 at the BMW came at the end of seven-straight weeks of competition dating back to a disappointing T70 at the PGA Championship. In-between however, he won his fifth TOUR title (John Deere Classic) and posted top 10s in each of the first two Playoffs events (T7/Barclays; T8/Deutsche Bank).
Moore’s P2 this week drops his record in playoffs to 2-2, but he valiantly battled McIlroy to the very end, even BEFORE sudden death began.
Both he and McIlroy played the weekend in 66-64, with each of those respective laps matching the low rounds of the day.
The UNLV alum’s closing 64 was blemish-free and was a season low in 81 rounds.
He began the finale in a two-way T3 on 6-under, two adrift. Playing out of the penultimate twosome with McIlroy, he split nine (of 14) fairways and circled six birdies on 15 greens in regulation, posting 1.600 putts per GIR.
One putt the Washington State native would like to have back was an 8'3" birdie try on the 72nd hole to win in regular time, which agonizingly lipped the right edge of the cup.
In the playoff, he courageously battled McIlroy to a stalemate thru three holes: two tours of the par-5 18th (birdie, par) and the par-3 15th (par), and then canned a 20-foot par-saver on the par-4 16th, only to watch McIlroy curl-in a 15-foot birdie for the win. The four-hole playoff was the longest in TOUR Championship history.
As mentioned above, Moore’s P2 was his third top 10 in these Playoffs and a career-high ninth of the season (23 starts). It’s his seventh runner-up finish in 281 career starts (276 pro) and climbed seven spots to a career-best 7th in the final FEC standings.
Dating back to his win at the John Deere, Moore was a cumulative 47-under in his last 24 rounds, and was justly rewarded with the final Captain’s Pick for Team USA at the upcoming Ryder Cup.
Kevin Chappell: The overnight co-leader, who also co-led after Round 1, carded a 4-under-par 33-33=66 in the finale to match Moore and McIlroy on 12-under 268, and then was eliminated on the first hole of sudden death, the par-5 18th, with par to McIlroy and Moore’s birdies.
Before we delve a little further, it should be noted that Chappell was the ONLY player to record FOUR sub-par rounds and this was his tournament debut.
The 30-year-old began R4 co-leading with playing competitor and FEC leader Johnson. He bettered Johnson by SEVEN shots but unfortunately, McIlroy and Moore fired 64s.
The Californian was 5-under thru 16 holes, outpacing bogey-4 at the second with birdies on Nos. 1, 3, 8, 10, 13 and 16, but opened the door with bogey on the par-4 17th (failed scramble), and then failed to birdie the par-5 finishing hole.
He records his FOURTH runner-up this season in 27 starts and adds to an already career-best season with his eighth top 10. Chasing his first win in his 167th career event, he settles for a sixth career runner-up and climbed seven spots to a personal-best 8th in the final FEC standings.
He also finished a career-best 8th on the money list with $4,501,050, shattering his previous best by $2.9M in 2013. The UCLA product was the highest-ranked player on the money list of those without a win. He drops to 0-for-3 however, when the 54-hole leader/co-leader and 0-1 in sudden death.
Dustin Johnson: The FEC leader and overnight co-leader coughed up a 3-over-par 36-37=73 in the final round to drop five places into a two-way T6 on 5-under 275, relinquishing the tournament and FEC title to champion McIlroy.
He began the final frame co-leading with playing competitor Chappell on 8-under, two clear of McIlroy and Moore.
Johnson also co-led after the first round, and led outright after R2. Dating back to the BMW, he had either led or co-led in EACH of the last SIX rounds on TOUR, including his three-shot win and tournament record (to par) 23-under aggregate at Crooked Stick.
The 32-year-old’s task on Sunday was simple, win the TOUR Championship and he wins the FEC crown.
He labored to the worst round of the day, carding just two birdies versus three bogeys and a double, swallowing a -3.430 in SG: Putting and playing his final 11 holes in birdie-less 3-over.
Johnson also lost 3.529 strokes approaching-the-green over the weekend, including a -1.762 in R4.
The South Carolinian won the BMW with a complete game but primarily on finishing No. 1 in SG: Off-the-Tee (6.248). For a second straight round however, he mustered just six (of 14) fairways and barely registered a 0.266 in SG: OTT on Sunday, nowhere near the prowess that got him here in the first place.
Despite his final-round woes however, Johnson still had a chance to claim the $10M FEC bonus, provided that McIlroy didn’t win the tourney, but the Northern Irishman did in dramatic fashion. Both now lead their respective teams into this week’s Ryder Cup.
One consolation, Johnson is still the clear favorite for Player of the Year honors after easily winning the money title with $9,365,185, $1.3M ahead of Jason Day who withdrew during R2 (back). He and Day were the only players with three wins this season.
Johnson also finishes the 2015-16 campaign with a TOUR-leading 15 top 10s in 22 starts, 11 of which were top 5s. His 15 top 10s are four better than Patrick Reed and five better than Matt Kuchar and Day.
Johnson’s No. 2 spot in the final FEC standings is a career best, supplanting fourth-place in 2011, and his $9.3M in earnings is $3.8M better than his previous best last year. He does drop to 3-for-8 however, when the 54-hole leader/co-leader.
Paul Casey: The 39-year-old painted a week-tying-low 6-under-par 32-32=64 in the final round to conclude his third appearance on 9-under 271, up three places to solo fourth, three adrift of the three-man playoff.
It matches his best at East Lake (T4/2010) and is his third straight top-5 finish, joining runners-up at the Deutsche Bank and BMW Championships. Casey entered the week 5th in the FEC standings and remained there, clipping his previous-best 6th-place finish back in 2010.
The Englishman squared a lone bogey-4 at the 16th, but camouflaged it with seven birdies on 13 greens in regulation, posting a tidy 1.462 putts per GIR. His 64 was a season low in 74 rounds, brushing aside 66 five times.
Although Casey didn’t win, he was 2nd in money in the Playoffs (to McIlroy) with $2,289,220, posting finishes of: T31-2nd-2nd-4th.
He finished the season with seven top 10s in 22 starts and a career-best $3.89M in earnings, eclipsing $3.61M in 2010, and was a cumulative 42-under over his last 12 rounds.
Adam Scott: The 36-year-old back-doored a two-way T8 with a bogey-free 65 for a four-day tally of 4-under 276 (69-71-71-65). He was the ONLY player to record top 10s in ALL four Playoffs events.
It capped a run of T4-4-T4-T8 this postseason, but he’ll go away wanting after dipping one spot in the final FEC rankings to 4th. However, that does match a career best from his last two-win season on TOUR in 2013.
The Aussie finished the season with nine top 10s in 20 starts, SEVEN of which were top 5s.
Up Next:
The 2015-16 TOUR season is complete. The Ryder Cup is contested Sep. 30 – Oct. 2 followed by a one-week break.
The Safeway Open, formerly the Frys.com Open, will kick off the 2016-17 season Oct. 13-16. Emiliano Grillo is the defending champion after winning last year’s edition, as a rookie, in a playoff over Kevin Na.
The Safeway Open is being contested for a third straight year at the Silverado County Club’s North Course in Napa, California, and plays as a stock par 72 (36-36) at 7,203 yards.
Grillo claimed his maiden TOUR title here in his first start as a member, overcoming a two-shot deficit with a closing 69, and then jettisoned Na with birdie-4 on the second playoff hole.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and analysis as the TOUR begins back in earnest in just 17 short days.
