Happy Monday, everyone! It’s Zach Pereles back and ready to go. With the college football season underway, the NFL preseason over (meaning your fantasy draft is likely coming soon — be sure to sign up for our Fantasy Football Today newsletter) and the MLB season entering the final stretch, it’s full speed ahead.
Let’s get right to it.
Good morning to everyone but especially to…
RORY McILROY
The final group of the Tour Championship brought us World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler trying to hang on for yet another huge win to cap a historic breakout season that’s been full of them and Rory McIlroy — the superstar who has emerged as arguably the most important voice in golf — trying to track him down.
In other words, it was exactly what the PGA Tour needed to end a tumultuous season.
In the end, it was McIlroy who put a magnificent bow on an otherwise oh-so-close season, beating Scheffler and Sungjae Im by a stroke to capture his record-breaking third FedEx Cup and, of course, the lucrative $18-million first-place payout.
- Scheffler led McIlroy by six strokes entering the final round, but that lead had vanished after seven holes. However, Scheffler birdied the eighth hole to reclaim the solo lead, which he held until…
- The crucial moment on the 15th hole, when McIlroy rolled in a stunning 31-foot birdie putt. Then, on 16, McIlroy miraculously saved par while Scheffler bogeyed.
- Scheffler missed a very good look at birdie on 17 and misplayed a bunker shot on 18. McIlroy flirted with but ultimately avoided trouble and held on.
- It’s McIlroy’s record third FedEx Cup title (also 2016 and 2019) and his 22nd career PGA Tour win.
In addition to winning the season’s final event, he also won his first event of the season — the CJ Cup at Summit back in October — as well as the RBC Canadian Open in June. But the season also featured plenty of close calls, notably: the Open Championship, where the putter let him down as he blew a late lead, and the Masters Tournament, where he finished second to Scheffler.
It’s fitting that McIlroy, who’s emerged as the biggest supporter of the PGA Tour as it battles with LIV Golf, won the tour title, writes golf expert Kyle Porter.
- Porter: “What’s maybe more surprising than McIlroy playing great golf is that someone who is generationally talented at this game would also be capable of casting such a strong vision while leading the game into the future with equal…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…