Irish Eyes Are Smilin’ — Rory Captures The Players

It was supposed to end this way.

On a wild afternoon at The Players Championship when just about everything that could happen, did happen, it was Northern Ireland’s most famous golfing son who emerged from an incredible pressure cooker that was the final 18 holes of this coveted tournament.

An Irishman simply had to win on the day when they celebrate the patron saint of the Emerald Isle.  There has been a boatload of pressure on Rory McIlroy to win this season and he finally overcame a half dozen close calls and closed the big one on a damp, cold, windy and pressure-packed finale at the TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy overcame his putting demons from tournaments lost and held off an incredible effort by 48-year-old Jim Furyk, who made a bold bid to become the oldest player to win this championship.

Rory performed when it counted.  He bounced back from a horrible short miss at the 14th hole with stylish birdies at the 15th and 16th.  Those got him to 16-under par and he’d make a nervous land-finding tee shot at the dangerous 17th.  A great lag gave him par then he defied the talking heads and pulled driver at the 18th.

“I just told myself — one more good swing — as soon as I made contact, I knew it was perfect,” McIlroy said of his towering high power fade into the middle of the 18th fairway that left him just 155-yards to the hole.  He never stopped playing aggressive golf, he flew his second right over the pin, cut so very close to the water on the left side of the 18th.  He nearly holed the birdie and left himself a shorty for the title, his 15th on the PGA Tour and his biggest non-major.

His closing 70 left Furyk thinking of what might have been.  “I left it all out there,” said Fuyrk after his 67 that saw him birdie 16 and 18.  He barely missed his birdie bid from 15 feet at 17.  His putt looked perfect but didn’t take the final break, missing barely on the right lip.

McIlroy started the day a shot behind leader Jon Rahm, who played in the final pairing with Tommy Fleetwood.  Neither of them had enough game to make a serious run down the stretch.  Rahm’s demise started with a poor decision at the 11th where he tried an impossible second shot that found the water.  Fleetwood followed him into the drink and neither could recover after that.

McIlroy was tested early when he hit a bad second into the fourth that found the water.  He took a double and could have gone down the path to another loss but he refused.  He said after his Saturday round that he was focused on the three “Ps” — “Persistence, perspective and poise,” McIlroy said.  You can add a fourth — patience, to that McIlroy list.

“It was my turn to win,” McIlroy said.  “I knew if I stayed patient and waited, my time would happen.”

McIlroy said the near misses this year helped him.  “Honestly, I think it was all those experiences at the start of the year.  I liked today because it was tough.  I knew the guys weren’t getting away from me.  After the double at four, I kept checking the board and that encouraged me.”

Furyk wasn’t the only one to make a run at the title.  Eddie Pepperell, who introduced himself at last year’s Open Championship at Carnoustie, birdied 15, 16 and 17 to shoot 66 and post 14-under while McIlroy was still at work.  Pepperell’s playing partner, Jhonny Vegas, holed the longest putt ever at the 17th, a 62-footer for birdie to get to 14-under only to miss from six and a half feet for birdie at the 18th.  He and Pepperell finished tied for third.

Furyk watched and waited as McIlroy finished off his round with the clutch birdies, a wedge shot at the 17th that found dry land then the two skillful shots at the 18th.

When Rory was on the 17th tee, someone screamed “Luck of the Irish, Rory — luck of the Irish.”

There was no luck involved on this raucous St. Patrick’s Day.

It was the pure talent of Rory McIlroy.

Final Players Results: