Rory McIlroy left no doubt today at the RBC Canadian Open, firing a nine-under 61 to win by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson. After 14 holes of the final round he stood at nine-under, needing just two more birdies on his final four holes to shoot 59. A bogey-eagle-bogey finish ended up not being enough for history, but a 16th career US PGA Tour victory was all that mattered to McIlroy.
“Just awesome. I said from the start I wanted to be aggressive, I played with so much freedom yesterday and I just wanted to keep that going today,” McIlroy said. “Tied for the lead going out and playing with that freedom, it gives me so much confidence. Obviously this is a huge tournament to win, very proud of myself, but going forward this season to play the way I did in a final round like this, I’m going to take a lot from this. Excited for next week.”
This is McIlroy’s second win of the 2018-’19 season, the first coming in March at the Players Championship. Next up is the US Open at Pebble Beach, where McIlroy will look to end a lengthy Major-championship drought. His last Major victory, which was the fourth of his career, came at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar finished in a tie for fourth, while Canada’s Adam Hadwin finished in solo sixth, which gets him into the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The other qualifying spot went to Graeme McDowell, who buried a clutch 30-footer to earn his spot in the Open field in his homeland.