By Brian Keogh
Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following excerpt from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.
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| Rory McIlroy |
RORY MCILROY APPEARED TO TRY to keep the celebrations to a minimum as he mourned the end of his relationship with Caroline Wozniacki. But he could hardly play it down for long after a stunning closing 66 saw him come from seven shots behind Thomas Bjorn and claim the BMW PGA by a stroke from a brilliant Shane Lowry.
It was a memorable day for Ireland as the 25-year old Ulsterman became the first Irish golfer to win the British PGA since Harry Bradshaw won at Llandudno in 1958.
“It’s been 18 months since I won on The European Tour and to win the flagship event, I could not have asked for any more,” McIlroy said.
“I knew coming in here I was playing well. I struggled a little on Friday but played great over the weekend. I was a little fortunate that some of the guys ahead of me made mistakes and I took advantage of it.
“My caddie JP (Fitzgerald) set me the target of 15 under today. I didn’t quite get there but 14 under was enough. I really wanted to win before going into the second major of the season and I could not have asked for a better way to prepare.”
Bjorn came unstuck with a triple bogey seven at the sixth and limped to a 75 to finish tied third with Luke Donald (70) on 12 under as McIlroy set the target at 14 under with a birdie-birdie finish.
Lowry had led by three strokes after starting he back nine with three straight birdies. But he double bogeyed the 13th and followed a two at the 14th with a bogey at the 15th to get to 12 under again. It proved to be a bridge too far for the Offaly man as McIlroy covered the back nine in a wonder, five under 32 to reach 14 under.
Lowry needed an eagle at the last to force a playoff but ended up needing a 60 footer for birdie just to take solo second with a closing 68. Incredibly, he made the putt worth an extra €173,564, taking home €527,770 to move from 165th to 15th in Race to Dubai.
After claiming € 791,660 McIlroy is now second to Bjorn in the money list with €1,295,825 from six starts.
Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.