Rory McIlroy’s fourth major – yesterday’s PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Club – wasn’t easy which might have made it his most impressive. Shaking off a poor front nine, he eagled the 10th hole and fought through near-dark conditions to edge Phil Mickelson by a stroke.
Unlike his first three majors in which he was the front-runner all the way, he had to rally from a three-stroke deficit against world-class competition to capture his second Wanamaker Trophy with a 16-under score of 268. McIlroy won both the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA by eight shots going away and held a six-stroke lead after 54 holes before winning the British Open by two last month.
The third straight triumph overall, including last week’s Bridgestone Invitational, cemented his status as the top-ranked player in the world. At 25, he also became just the third-youngest player to record four major victories behind Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, two names he figures to be compared to often throughout the rest of what stands to be a brilliant career. Bobby Jones also won four majors by the age of 25.
Earlier in the week, Nicklaus speculated that McIlroy could win “15 to 20” majors before he’s finished, something it doesn’t appear Woods will do as he’s been stuck on 14 for six years and missed the cut Friday. And while many have longed for Woods and McIlroy to duel, it was McIlroy outlasting Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson yesterday. Fowler, the only player to ever finish in the Top 5 of all four majors without winning one, had the outright lead briefly on the back nine while Stenson and Mickelson also shared the lead.
The clincher was a 9-iron out of the bunker that led to a birdie on the 17th giving McIlroy a two-stroke advantage going to the 18th. Mickelson birdied the last but a bogey on 16 proved to be the difference. McIlroy also hit his approach into the bunker on 18 but managed to two-putt for par as darkness settled on the course.
With the Masters the only major McIlroy hasn’t won, the only solace for the rest of the players is that it isn’t being played until April.
