It was just shy of 1,100 days that Rory McIlroy finally got a chance to defend his 2019 RBC Canadian Open title.
Not much changed.
McIlroy authored another tour de force north of the border at St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto on Sunday with a brilliant display of scoring and overcoming a stretch that tested his mettle to win his 21st PGA Tour title.
Following a 5-under-par 65 in the third round, McIlroy, No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking, held off world No. 6 Justin Thomas and world No. 18 Tony Finau in the final megawatt grouping with a 62 to finish at 19 under.
In 2019, McIlroy closed with a 61 to win the Canadian Open by seven shots. The tournament was not played the past two years due to COVID restrictions.
“It’s incredible,” McIlroy said. “Playing with Tony and JT, and all of us playing the way we did, I think the worst round was 6 under, this is a day I will always remember. My 21st PGA Tour win, one more than somebody else, that gave me a little extra incentive today and I’m happy to get it done.”
That somebody else would be Greg Norman, who is the commissioner of LIV Golf, a rival league backed by Saudi Arabia that played its first event this week outside of London.
Well, the RBC Canadian Open was the PGA Tour’s resounding response to the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event that featured a 54-hole, no-cut, shotgun tournament ending Saturday. In Canada, the massive galleries were loud, chants broke out for numerous players throughout the week, and the fans heartily celebrated its first live golf action after the COVID-induced silence of the past two years. The fans’ final act? Thousands of them circled the 18th green, the crowd stretching back 50 yards down the fairway.
Adding to McIlroy’s celebration? It was the first time in 15 attempts that he defended a title. He shot 29 over the front nine – the first 29 on either the front or back nine in his career.
And he had to dig deep to overcome a lull. In full flight, McIlroy was 8 under through 12 holes and led by three. But he missed a four-footer on 13 and a two-footer on 16 to fall back into a tie. But he birdied 17 after knocking his approach from 127 yards to tap-in range and birdied 18 from five feet.
“After COVID, I needed a total reset,” McIlroy said. “I rededicated myself and wanted to do what makes me happy and this makes me happy.”
Finau knocked in a 40-footer for birdie on the last to finish at 17 under. It capped a huge weekend – in the third round he tied his career low with a 62.
Thomas, who came back from eight shots with 10 holes to play to win the PGA Championship in a playoff, was tied for the lead before making his first bogey in 34 holes and then another at the last. He finished at 15 under.
Justin Rose made a run at a sub-par 60 round and was actually 11 under through 15 holes and three pars away from a 59. But in his round of three eagles and seven birdies, Rose bogeyed two of his last three holes to match his career low of 60.
He finished in a tie for fourth at 14 under.
“I’m totally disappointed,” Rose said, especially about his last-hole bogey. “Because you know what’s at stake, for sure. You’re really just playing the last hole – I never shot 59 before – so it would have been a lovely footnote on the week.”
Joining Rose at 14 under was Sam Burns, who shot 65.
