Rory McIlroy began the final round of the Tour Championship trailing Scotty Scheffler by six strokes. It was a position McIlroy was familiar with. He started the event, which uses a staggered stroke start, six behind Scheffler. For good measure — and good memories — he was also six back to start the 2019 edition, which he eventually won for his second career FedExCup title.
Now he has three shiny, silver trophies.
McIlroy closed with a 4-under 66 on Sunday, while Scheffler shot a 3-over 73. That was enough to set the Tour Championship record for longest final-round comeback, breaking Camilo Villegas’ five-shot rally in 2008 and give McIlroy an end-of-season triumph – and an $18 million bonus.
Scheffler, who started the tournament at 10 under, finished at 20 under, tied for second with Sungjae Im. Each earned a $5,750,000 bonus among the $75 million.
Results across the field from the Tour Championship
Scheffler started the final corner with a big advantage, thanks to a fantastic finish in the third lap on Sunday morning.
After play was suspended Saturday afternoon due to inclement weather, the field returned to East Lake at 9:45 am. to close out Round 3. Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, in the last group and separated by one shot, were on the 13th fairway when play resumed. Scheffler played his last six holes in 4 under to get to 23 under par. Schauffele played them in 1 over to drop to 17 under. (He finished alone in fourth place after closing in 69.)
McIlroy finished with a third-round 63 to also reach 17 under. It was a remarkable turnaround for the world No.4, who began the tournament by hitting his opening tee shot out of bounds. He triple bogeyed the first hole and then bogeyed the second to fall 10 off the pace.
Fifty-two holes later, he had clawed his way into the final par.
“Six back on the first tee on Thursday and 10 back on the third tee. I guess it shows you that anything is possible, even when you’re a little behind or a little ahead in the tournament,” McIlroy said. “Anything can happen.”
McIlroy upset at Tour Championship
Both McIlroy and Scheffler birdied the first hole in the final round, but while Scheffler continued to slip, McIlroy held his ground. The Northern Irishman made four birdies over the remainder of the front nine to make it 3-under 32. Scheffler, meanwhile, posted a 37. The gap was one.
After a McIlroy birdie at the 12th, they tied the knot.
I was also in contention for much of the final round. He got within a shot of the lead before a double bogey at the par-4 14th. I made two late birdies to climb back within one of the lead, but he couldn’t get to the par-5 18th, settling for a 66.
Ultimately, I was chasing McIlroy. After McIlroy birdied the 14th to fall one behind Scheffler, he rolled in a 31-foot birdie putt at the par-3 15th to pull even at 21 under.
McIlroy then bogeyed the 16th, while Scheffler bogeyed. With two holes to play, McIlroy led by one.
Scheffler had a chance to regain a share of the lead at the par-4 17th, but after keeping his approach shot to 12 feet, he badly pushed the birdie attempt and made par. With one hole to play — and an $11.5 million gap between first and solo second place — McIlroy held the slight advantage.
Both players hit the fairway on the 18th, Scheffler drove 334 yards and McIlroy 342. Hitting first, Scheffler found a bunker short and right of the green. McIlroy followed by holing his second from 228 yards from the left fairways.
Playing first again, Scheffler blasted his bunker shot over the green. McIlroy was able to relieve himself from the fairway and dropped to 20 feet. After Scheffler couldn’t chip in for birdie, McIlroy just needed to make two bogeys to secure the win. He did it easily. Scheffler settled for even par and a T-2 along with Im.
“I didn’t really give myself much of a chance to break away today,” McIlroy said. “I thought six back, I thought it was going to be really hard to make up. But my good game and Scottie’s not-so-great game, and it was a ball game that I got on the back nine.”
It was McIlroy’s third win of the season, joining his wins at the CJ Cup and the RBC Canadian Open. He also added it to his FedExCup triumphs in 2016 and ’19.
