The Golf Blog: Rory McIlroy wins PGA Championship for back-to-back majors, displacing Tiger Woods as golf’s most dominant player
Rory McIroy rallies to emulate golf's greatest – Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones http://t.co/SPoPXGfbDw pic.twitter.com/R2UdVc4jjr
— Herald Sun Sport (@heraldsunsport) August 11, 2014
The Golf Blog says: Final round leader Rory McIlroy played a lackluster front nine, shooting a 1-over 36. That gave an opening for the charging U.S. duo Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Henrik Stenson to take the lead. Rory even fell back 3 strokes out of the lead to Rickie, Phil, and Stenson.
But then on the 10th hole, the entire tournament changed. Rory blasted an unbelievable bullet 281-yard 3-wood from the fairway that ended up 7 feet away. Rory sunk the eagle putt and gave a double fist pump that was reminiscent of the kind of intense punch that only Tiger Woods used to do.
We are entering a new era in golf:
The Rory McIlroy era. pic.twitter.com/RGE4jW5ViI
— ESPN (@espn) August 11, 2014
After Rory’s eagle on 10, the intensity on his eyes was downright scary. He was so focused. Only Tiger Woods used to exude such an intensity. From there, you got the feeling that Phil, Rickie, and Henrik were just hanging on to their leads for dear life. Rory was coming back–and he did, birdieing 13 to tie Phil and Rickie for the lead. As Rickie and Henrik faltered, Phil stayed tied with Rory for the lead until he bogeyed the 16th hole. Phil, 44 years old, appeared to be gassed. He put up a valiant fight, but he was going up against a 25 year old wonder in Rory at the top of his game.
Rory put the championship on ice by birding the 17th to open a 2-shot lead. It’s Rory’s 4th major of his career and a back-to-back major following the British Open. The display of power and shotmaking Rory put on in the last 2 majors signals an emphatic end to the Tiger Woods era.
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