Rory McIlroy reflects on remarkable turnaround in form at TPC Boston
Tuesday 6 September 2016 08:42, UK
Rory McIlroy celebrated his first PGA Tour title in 16 months after completing an "amazing" comeback from his torrid start to the Deutsche Bank Championship, on Friday.
McIlroy followed a bogey at his second hole with a triple-bogey at the 12th early in the first round at TPC Boston and left himself with a huge task just to make the halfway cut, but dug deep to salvage a level-par 71 which he followed with a 67 on Saturday.
He closed out a third-round 66 with a superb eagle at 18, narrowly missing out on his first albatross as a professional when his 220-yard second lipped out, although he remained six shots adrift of 54-hole leader Paul Casey heading into the final day.
But the 27-year-old piled the pressure on Casey with a faultless outward 31, which he capped with three straight birdies, and found himself two shots clear of the field when he picked up another shot at the 12th.
McIlroy opened the door for the Englishman with a bogey at 17, but a sublime up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the last set up a tap-in for birdie to complete a 65, and Casey was unable to make the eagle he needed to force a play-off.
"From three holes in - four over par - there were a lot of things going through my mind, and one of them was not winning this tournament," McIlroy said on Sky Sports 4.
"So 69 holes later - I played some great golf and holed some great putts. I'm just really proud of myself, how I hung in there on the first day and then got some momentum on Saturday. Then I just went with it.
"It's nice to get that first win in the States this year and hopefully I can take this momentum into the next couple of weeks and ultimately the Ryder Cup."
McIlroy's first PGA Tour win since last year's Wells Fargo Championship lifted him to fourth in the FedExCup standings, and he believes the manner of his victory will spur him on to finish an erratic season in style.
"Those last 15 holes on Friday were definitely a turning point, not just in this tournament, but maybe in my season, to play the last 15 holes in four-under," McIlroy added.
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"It is amazing to think how I started this tournament, and then all of a sudden I'm standing here with a trophy. It is pretty cool. I came here off the back of a rough couple of weeks and I was thinking 'Here we go again,' and that it was going to be a little bit of a grind and a bit of a struggle.
"But things can turn around quickly in this game and they did for me this week."
