Sports

McIlroy holds on, hoists PGA trophy as night falls on Valhalla

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was everything you hoped it could and would be.

The star-studded leaderboard at the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla begged for this kind of golf, this kind of finish. And the stars cooperated, thrilling galleries filled with soaking-wet fans from a mid-day deluge that suspended play for 110 minutes and left the tournament to finish in darkness.

When it was over, at 8:43 p.m. in a bizarre finish that saw the final two groups play the 18th hole essentially as a foursome so they could finish before it became so dark it was unplayable, the last man standing was the best player in the world, Rory McIlroy.

The 25-year-old from Northern Ireland staved off Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson in a positively electrifying final round with so many twists and turns atop the leaderboard it became dizzying.

It was McIlroy’s fourth major championship victory at the age of 25 and second in a row. It was his third consecutive victory overall, after having won the British Open last month and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last week. McIlroy became the third-youngest player to win four majors, following Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

“I thought winning the [British] Open Championship a few weeks ago had sort of put me on a higher level in this game,’’ McIlroy said. “But then to win a fourth major here, to be one behind Phil, one behind Seve [Ballesteros], level with Ernie [Els], level with Raymond Floyd; I mean, I never thought I’d get this far at 25 years of age.

McIlroy celebrates after his final putt Sunday.AP

“I was happy being a two‑-time major champion coming into this year, and all of a sudden I’m a four-‑time major champion and going for the career Grand Slam at Augusta [next April]. It’s just been an incredible run of golf.’’

Said Mickelson: “He’s better than everyone else right now. He’s good. Really good.’’
Graeme McDowell said what McIlroy is doing is “beginning to look a little Tiger-‑esque,’’ referring to Tiger Woods’ past dominance.

“I said to the boys at the [British] Open, I didn’t think we were going to see the new Tiger era, as in someone creating their own kind of Tiger-‑esque era just yet. I’m not eating my words, but I’m certainly starting to chew on them right now. Pretty special stuff.’’

This one came harder for McIlroy, whose first three major wins came with him front-running. On Sunday, he lost one-shot lead and found himself three shots out of the lead on the front nine.

But, perhaps showing more maturity than he has in his already brilliant career, McIlroy never flinched. He shot a final-round 68 and finished 16-under for the tournament, winning by one shot over Mickelson. Stenson and Fowler finished at 14-under.

With Woods — the unquestioned needle-mover in the sport — having left the premises two days earlier after missing the cut, the quality of golf in the scintillating final round was remarkable.

McIlroy hits his second shot on the 12th hole Sunday.Getty Images

The ending in the dark, too, added to a day dripping with drama — with Mickelson and Fowler agreeing to let McIlroy and his playing partner, Bernd Wiesberger, play up 18 while they were still in the fairway so they could complete the competition before darkness and an oncoming thunderstorm prevented it.

“They showed a lot of class and a lot of sportsmanship by doing that,’’ McIlroy said. “I thanked Rickie and Phil in the scorer’s area. It was a classy move by them [because] if they had not of done that, we might not have been able to get it all done because it was getting really dark out there.’’

On 18, where McIlroy had a two-shot lead at the tee, Mickelson nearly drained an eagle chip and settled for birdie to get back to 15-under. McIlroy nearly hit his tee shot into the water and then, laying up, hit into a bunker. He scrambled the par he needed to clinch victory.

While Mickelson, Fowler and Stenson were making their early charges, McIlroy was flat-lining on his front nine. He bogeyed Nos. 3 and 6 and lost the lead, but he never wavered. He kept grinding until the birdies would come, and finally they did.

McIlroy sparked his round with an eagle on the par-5 10th hole to get to 14-under, one shot behind Fowler, who had birdied 10 right in front of him.

“I started the round very tentatively,’’ McIlroy said. “I just didn’t really have it. But the eagle on 10 just changed everything. Rickie holed that [birdie] putt there on 10 to go three ahead while I was standing on the fairway. So eagle to get back to one behind with eight holes to play was massive.’’

Stenson noted the “roars being thrown back and forth and a lot of birdies being made’’ in the final round.

“It must have been a great championship to watch on television or out there,’’ he said.