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Rory McIlroy Breaks Thru For Popular Players Championship Win

Rick Arnett /

Rory McIlroy has been playing some stellar golf lately. Since the Sentry TOC, he’s finished T4, T5, T4, 2nd, T6. So close. Yet frustrating as well. In fact, the popular Twitter stat is McIlroy had zero wins from his last 9 Sunday final pairings.

So, fast forward to yesterday. No, he wasn’t in the last group but rather the penultimate pairing. Going in the Irishman was 115th in final round scoring. He doubled the 4th and you braced the for wheels to fly off once again.

Yet, McIlroy played steady and stellar golf towards the end. Perfectly blasted a driver on the tough 18th hole. And won the Players Championship by a shot over the surprising old goat Jim Furyk.

It was a popular win. Rory is good for an honest quote, has no problem voicing concerns about the game and is honest about the challenges and expectations of a top-tier player.

Golf.com’s Alan Shipnuck writes on McIlroy finding perspective and returning to one of the most-talented players in the world.

“It’s, I think, maturity…not letting golf define who I am as a person, trying to keep the two things very separate” — and how settled he felt between the ropes.

With the tournament — and his reputation — on the line, McIlroy’s face was utterly impassive. Up ahead, local boy Jim Furyk was mounting a charge that sent cheers cascading across the swampy grounds, but McIlroy had boiled the moment down to its essence. “No doubts crept in at all,” he says. “I was just trying to focus on the next shot, and it was a really tight hole location, so I’m just trying to play the sensible shot, get it beyond the pin a little bit and give myself a putt at it. At that point I wasn’t really thinking about the tournament, I was just thinking about, okay, I’ve put myself out of position on this hole, how can I get myself back into position.”


Its’ is a short list of players who have won four major championships and a Players: Nicklaus, Woods, Trevino, Mickelson, Floyd and now McIlroy. He has restored himself as the favorite for next month’s Masters as he seeks the one thing that has always eluded him, but on Sunday night McIlroy was unbothered about the challenge that awaits at Augusta. He is about to turn 30, and has no interest in stoking the hype machine.

“Of course I desperately wanted the win today,” he said, “but it’s just another day. It’s just another step in the journey. My career is hopefully going to last another 15 or 20 years, so one tournament or one day or one month in those 20 years is nothing. It’s just a glimpse. So it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change who I am. It looks great on my resume. I’m very happy about that. It’s another step in the right direction. But that’s all it is to me.”

That’s some heady insight to admire. And another reason why he’s a popular sentimental choice to win The Masters and complete his career Grand Slam.

“I came here (Ponte Vedra) as a 19-year-old in 2009, missing the cut and getting kicked out of bars on Jax Beach because I was underage,” he said. “I’ve come a long way in those 10 years.”

Alan Shipnuck Players Championship Rory McIlroy