McIlroy with his trophy. Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
TOURNAMENT HOST RORY McIlroy finished with a flourish to secure a maiden Irish Open title and claim his first victory of the year at The K Club today.
The world number three completed his rain-affected third round with a two-under 70 in the morning and followed that up with a 69 to finish on 12 under, three shots ahead of Bradley Dredge and Russell Knox.
McIlroy only held a slender one-shot advantage over Dredge and Knox as the final group stood at the 18th tee, but the four-time major-winner produced a sublime approach to give himself a short putt for an eagle to seal his first win since last November.
Knox replaced McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard with a birdie at 15, but the County Down native responded with a third gain of his final round at the next and the Scot was brought back down to earth with a bogey.
McIlroy turned on the style at the last, giving himself a simple putt for an eagle with a sublime 253-yard approach shot from the fairway and making no mistake to pick up a €666,660 winning cheque, which he will donate to his charity The Rory Foundation.
“I don’t get a chance to play in front of my home fans very often, so to play like that… I’ll never forget it,” McIlroy said afterwards.
Dredge birdied the last two holes to finish with a six-under 66 and take a share of second place with Knox, who closed with a 68.
Masters champion Danny Willett was three shots adrift of McIlroy heading into the final round, but a closing five-over 77 saw him plummet down the leaderboard.
Fellow Englishman Matt Southgate took fourth place – and his first top-five finish on the European Tour – with an impressive final round of 68 to move to eight under, while Martin Kaymer was two shots further back in a share of fifth.
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McIlroy tastes Irish Open success for the first time as final round goes down to the wire
TOURNAMENT HOST RORY McIlroy finished with a flourish to secure a maiden Irish Open title and claim his first victory of the year at The K Club today.
The world number three completed his rain-affected third round with a two-under 70 in the morning and followed that up with a 69 to finish on 12 under, three shots ahead of Bradley Dredge and Russell Knox.
McIlroy only held a slender one-shot advantage over Dredge and Knox as the final group stood at the 18th tee, but the four-time major-winner produced a sublime approach to give himself a short putt for an eagle to seal his first win since last November.
Knox replaced McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard with a birdie at 15, but the County Down native responded with a third gain of his final round at the next and the Scot was brought back down to earth with a bogey.
McIlroy turned on the style at the last, giving himself a simple putt for an eagle with a sublime 253-yard approach shot from the fairway and making no mistake to pick up a €666,660 winning cheque, which he will donate to his charity The Rory Foundation.
“I don’t get a chance to play in front of my home fans very often, so to play like that… I’ll never forget it,” McIlroy said afterwards.
Dredge birdied the last two holes to finish with a six-under 66 and take a share of second place with Knox, who closed with a 68.
Masters champion Danny Willett was three shots adrift of McIlroy heading into the final round, but a closing five-over 77 saw him plummet down the leaderboard.
Fellow Englishman Matt Southgate took fourth place – and his first top-five finish on the European Tour – with an impressive final round of 68 to move to eight under, while Martin Kaymer was two shots further back in a share of fifth.
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Danny Willett He's done it Irish Open K Club Rory McIlroy Russell Knox