Rory finds sanctuary in winner’s enclosure
The Co. Down man had begun the week by announcing the end of his relationship with fiancee Caroline Wozniacki and with the cancellation of their November wedding, his prospects of winning on a course that had repeatedly bamboozled him in the past seemingly plummeted.
By last night, McIlroy, 25, was savouring the sweet taste of success for the first time this year.
There was no Wozniacki there to share the celebrations but his father Gerry was as he emerged from the recorders’ office in the knowledge his final-round, six-under-par 66 had been enough to win the tournament at 14 under par, a shot ahead of compatriot Shane Lowry with Luke Donald’s bid for a third Wentworth title in four years having ended in a splash at the 18th.
Lowry, who shot a 68, took second outright, securing the biggest payday of his career to date, the 27-year-old collecting €527,770.
His 50-foot putt at the last had seen off Donald, whose 70 put him into a share of third with overnight leader Thomas Bjorn, who had squandered a five-shot advantage with a closing 75.
McIlroy’s one-shot win was his first on a major tour in 18 months since the 2012 DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, although he had won the Australian Open in December, and as father and son hugged they may well have reflected not just on a successful end to a difficult week but also the moment he may have re-emerged as the player to dominate world golf once more.
“I think the win at the end of last year in Australia sort of stopped all the questions about equipment and about struggling and slump and all this stuff,” McIlroy said.
“I think this victory here, against a great field, one of the best fields of the year, especially in Europe; it sort of cements that, and shows where my game is and I’m on the right track again.
“Hopefully it won’t be long before I’m contending in Majors and having a chance to win those again.”
Even on its own merits, McIlroy’s victory, his first on European soil, came amid high drama on an enthralling final day in the Wentworth sun.
It was telling on Saturday night, as Bjorn sat on his well-deserved 54-hole lead that none of the chasing pack was waving the white flag.
Maybe they had remembered Bjorn’s ‘previous’ in that regard, his four-shot lead at the 2005 European Open evaporating on the final day at the K Club as he shot an 86 to finish in a tie 33rd.
Bjorn struggled all day with a triple-bogey seven at the sixth and two bogeys on the front nine wiping out a lead he would not enjoy again, while Donald, roared on by his countrymen, recovered from his triple at the sixth to pile the pressure on down the stretch and approach the 72nd hole with victory still possible.
Lowry’s day had started with eagle at the par-five fourth only to unravel in the form of a double bogey at the par-four 13th and a bogey five at the 15th as he fell into a share of the lead with McIlroy on 12 under.
The momentum was firmly with McIlroy and after birdies at 10, 12 and 13, he threw down the gauntlet yet again with two birdies to finish with a 66. Lowry failed to respond, missing a birdie putt at the 17th and then pushing his second shot on 18 to the right. He did finish with a smile on his face, though, thanks to that monster putt to seal second place outright.
Donald was the only one who could stop McIlroy then, but he pushed his approach to the last into the water and victory belonged to the Holywood man.
“I guess when I got inside the ropes this week, it was a little bit of a release,” he said.
“I was on my own and doing what I do best, playing golf, and that sort of gave me four or five hours of serenity or sanctuary; just focusing on the job at hand which was to play golf and get the ball in the hole in the lowest number of shots possible.
“I can’t explain it. It’s obviously been a week of very mixed emotions, but I’m sitting here looking at this trophy going, ‘how the hell, how did it happen this week?’. But it did. A great way to end the week.”
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