Rory McIlroy
By Irish Echo Staff
On the day that Arnold Palmer died, Rory McIlroy seemed possessed by the spirit of golf’s first truly popular hero.
“It was more than his scoring and shotmaking that captivated the world. It was how he played. He did not so much navigate a course as attack it.”
Those lines were from today’s New York Times front page obituary for Palmer, the man simply known as “The King.”
They could just as easily have applied to Rory McIlroy yesterday who wrested a trophy and cup from the rest of the best in the world, and in so doing earned a winner’s purse that no other Irish athlete in history has ever come close to.
McIlroy, in a manner that would have thrilled and tortured his legions of fans, won the Tour Championship at the East Lake club outside Atlanta.
In so doing he also won the Fed Ex Cup, a season-climaxing title that is awarded on a points gained basis for tournaments played throughout the year.
McIlroy’s total take yesterday?
$11.53 million.
And a bucketful of sporting glory.
The win came just a couple of weeks after McIlroy’s Deutsche Bank triumph in Massachusetts and just days before the first shots are struck in the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minnesota.
As wins go, McIlroy’s triumph was packed with more drama in a four-hole playoff than many tournaments serve up over four days.
McIlroy played with verve and nerve – Arnie style - as he overcame his playoff opponents, Kevin Chappell and Ryan Moore.
Chappell was the first to bow out, after the threesome twice played the par 5 18th.
Then it was McIlroy and Moore on the 15th and 16th.
McIlroy finally won on the 16th, the hole he had eagled during his sizzling final round of 64.
He hardly seemed to believe it for a moment.
Then, like his final putt, it all sank in.
And as it did exhausted Rory fans the world over could breathe again.
