Rory McIlroy, on the strength of four birdies in his previous five holes, pretty much had the Arnold Palmer Invitational wrapped up by the time he reached the 18th green in Sunday’s finale. But he had a familiar putt to make before hoisting his first PGA Tour trophy in 18 months.
Rory McIlroy follows Tiger Woods’ lead on his way to come-from-behind win at Bay Hill
Rory knew what his birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational would do after watching Tiger bury so many in his eight wins at Bay Hill.
Some 25 feet above the hole in two, McIlroy, who grew up idolizing Tiger Woods, knew his boyhood hero had made a similar putt to win the 2008 edition of Arnie’s tourney and then threw his hat into the turf in celebration.
So after lining up and draining his own birdie putt on the 72nd hole, which, with his nearest challenger one hole behind him, would likely seal his first tour win since the 2016 Tour Championship, McIlroy considered doing what Woods had done 10 years earlier.
”I’ve seen Tiger make that enough times to know what it does so I just wanted to try and emulate that,” McIlroy said following his three-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau. “Didn’t quite give it the hat toss. I was thinking about doing it but just to be able to create my own little bit of history on the 18th green here is pretty special.”
Instead of throwing his cap to the turf, McIlroy, with the crowd going wild, lifted his arms and punched the air in jubilation.
With all eyes on Woods all week, McIlroy flew under the radar and entered the final round two shots back of Henrik Stenson. With his entire game working beautifully, Rory began to pull away from the pack on his back nine of the final round — just as Tiger was fading after knocking his drive on No. 16 out of bounds.
McIlroy made the turn in 3-under 33 after running off three birdies in his last four holes on the front. But he saved the best for last — five birds in his final six holes for an 8-under 64.
“I wasn’t that far away,” McIlroy said about his game, despite two missed cuts in four previous tour contests this year. “It would just take something to click into place and something clicked into place with my long game.”
Exhibit A: His monster drive on the 16th hole that resulted in his fourth birdie in a row down the stretch.
“Obviously, something clicked into place with my putting as well,” said McIlroy, who benefited from some recent tutoring with putting guru, Brad Faxon. “It’s just so nice to see everything come together finally.”
The victory — McIlroy’s first since the day Palmer died, Sept. 25, 2016, and his 14th PGA Tour W — was bittersweet.
“I wish I walked up that hill and got a handshake from him,” said the four-time major winner who’s a favorite to capture his first green jacket in two weeks at the Masters, “but I’m so happy to put my name on that trophy.”
McIlroy has one more tuneup, this week’s WGC-Match Play, before heading to Augusta to try to complete the career grand slam.
“It’s huge,” McIlroy said about Sunday’s win affecting his confidence entering the Masters. “The shots that I was able to hit today under pressure, coming down the stretch — the two 5-irons into the par-3s on the back nine, the wedge shots, the putts, the drive on 16, the 3-wood on 18 after the last 3-wood I hit on that hole I hit OB left on Thursday.
“So just stuff that you, all these little barriers that you have to overcome, whether it be physical or mental, yeah, it’s huge for my confidence going into the next few weeks,” he said. “I kept saying I didn’t need a win going into Augusta to feel like I had a chance; I just wanted to see signs of good golf, and thankfully I’ve been able to get both today.”
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