Swoosh! Just like that, with 66 magical strokes of his chosen Nike clubs in the final round of the Australian Open, Rory McIlroy banished a nightmare season.
The 24-year-old Northern Irishman became the Wizard of Oz, out-duelling US Masters champion Adam Scott down the stretch at Royal Sydney yesterday to claim his first tournament win of a turbulent year.
McIlroy, who started the final round four shots behind Scott, fired a closing 66 for a total of 270, 18-under-par, to pip the Australian by a stroke to finally find some solace on the golf course away from other issues that had impacted on his game. It was his first win in over 12 months.
“I’m gutted,” confessed Scott, who was seeking to emulate Robert Allenby’s feat of 2005 and complete a clean sweep of the main championships in his homeland having claimed the Australian Masters and Australian PGA titles in recent weeks.
Scott finished with a 71. His mood was in stark contrast to that of McIlroy, who finally rediscovered the art of winning.
McIlroy rolled in a 12-foot birdie on the final green to complete his successful pursuit of Scott before clenching both fists and looking to the skies for vindication of his comeback win. “I’m really pleased I was able to take on one of the best players in the world down the stretch and come out on top.
"He came down here to Australia, won the Aussie PGA and then the Aussie Masters. Then World Cup last week and here . . . he's a true gentleman and he's a credit to the game. I was lucky to come out on top." The victory was McIlroy's first since a megabucks sponsorship deal which saw him switch from the Titleist clubs that brought him two Major titles to Nike clubs and his first since splitting from his former agents Horizon Sports to form his own management team.
Better place
"Since the end of September, I've just felt in a better place, a better place mentally with some things off the course," admitted McIlroy of finally getting his clubs to do the talking. "Golf's a long career and I'm 24 years old. I get a little impatient at times and, if I actually just took a step back and looked at the bigger picture, it hasn't been too bad a year."
He added: “Overall, I just felt everything was coming together the way I wanted it to. It’s been a frustrating year but I’ve worked hard and it’s been a process of trying to get back to winning golf tournaments again and it was nice to do that.”
McIlroy started with a four shot deficit to make up on Scott but turned the chase into a duel after an eagle on the seventh hole closed the gap to just one stroke.
“I just managed to get off to a faster start than him,” claimed McIlroy, who was four-under through the opening eight holes. “I just stayed patient, (knowing) anything could happen on this golf course.”
Scott had birdie chances on the 16th and 17th to effectively close the door on the Ulsterman, but still retained a one shot lead as he stood on the 18th tee. However, Scott pushed his approach to the 18th green long and his recovery shot found the wrong tier of the green and resulted in a two-putt bogey whilst McIlroy rolled in the 12-footer for birdie to seal the deal.
“I was kind of trying to keep it closed all day the best I could (but) nothing was going my way on the greens today. I could have put this thing away, I think, early on if the putter was behaving how it should have – like it did the rest of the week – but I just misjudged into the last and a player as good as Rory is going to take that opportunity,” admitted Scott, who took 35 putts in his final round. In setting a course record 62 in his opening round, Scott had used the blade 23 times.
McIlroy’s win, the 11th worldwide of his professional career, earned him a first prize cheque for Aus$225,000 and now moves on to the Tiger Woods-hosted World Challenge in California this week where he will finish off his season.
