Rory McIlroy stormed to a record first prize of £15 million with a remarkable final-round comeback in the Tour Championship that saw him overhaul a six-shot over world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.
The Atlanta crowd chanted “Rory, Rory, Rory” when he tapped in for a 66 to deny Scheffler by a shot in the FedEx finale, the PGA Tour’s grand season-ender.
The acclaim was fully deserved as McIlroy is the first golfer to complete the hat-trick in the Atlanta feature piece and his 21-under total was made all the more commendable considering the fact that he shot a triple-bogey seven on his first hole in the first round.
“I didn’t give myself much of a chance of winning today, but I would like to say that Scottie deserves a lot of this, because of the way he’s played all year,” McIlroy said.
Will this huge payday act as consolation for his near miss in the Open Championship last month? “This softens St Andrews a bit, but not completely,” McIlroy said. “But I went up against the best player in the world today and took him down – so that means something.”
It was undoubtedly an incredibly gutsy effort to deny Scheffler who seemed unstoppable in his pursuit of the jackpot Because of the staggered start – McIlroy began the East Lake tournament six behind the Masters champion – and when Scheffler returned in the morning to complete the rain-delayed third round and extended his advantage to half a dozen shots, it loomed all over.
But as Scheffler stumbled to a 73 – tying with Korean Sungjae Im for second and losing more than £9m in the process – McIlroy pressed on and so allowed the PGA Tour a rare chance to smile in its fight against LIV Golf, the Saudi rebel circuit .
“I believe in this Tour and the players on the Tour and it’s the greatest place to play,” McIlroy said. “That was a spectacle out there today, with two of the best players in the world going head to head.”
On Monday, however, LIV Golf will announce the latest batch of captures, and it is set to include not only Open champion in Cameron Smith but also Joaquin Niemann, the highest-ranked player in the world aged under 25.
Telegraph Sport exclusively revealed earlier this month that Cam Smith has signed and there is no doubt that the world No 2 will be the centerpiece of the big announcement in Boston, as Greg Norman names the 48-man field for this week’s fourth £20m event in this year’s series.