Rory McIlroy wins The Players and will strut to the Masters as a favorite

It’s been the case for five years now. There is no one better in the game of golf to watch when he’s on than Rory McIlroy.

That theorem had gotten dusty sitting on the shelf in recent years, rarely put to use. There was that one Sunday at Bay Hill, but aside from that, it’s been mostly just a series of weekend teases. Only Rory McIlroy could make constant contention frustrating to watch. It’s because of that theorem — we know how much fun it is to watch him put the pedal down and dust everyone at the biggest events in the game. He would pull us in with one low round and then disappear or recede during a rough stretch on the weekend, blowing wedges over the green or putting like a middling to average player. We never got Rory in full, save for a couple hours of unconscious putting at Bay Hill one year ago.

This season just felt like an inevitable ticking clock to this moment, Rory’s convincing win at The Players Championship. There were some of those momentary wedge troubles or putting mishaps, but nothing like we’d seen repeatedly through the last two years. Rory was dialed-in, had been since the very first week of the year, and was going to win.

The win came at the biggest event of the season so far, one that every great player wants to add to his resume. McIlroy, who once battled with the PGA Tour and skipped this event entirely, now has everything but the green jacket. The close calls in Hawaii and California and the WGC Mexico were simply a preface to this win, not some troubling trend that would continue. This was obvious and it had felt and looked different all season.

So Rory won The Players Championship in a way that reminded us why there’s no one more fun to watch when he says screw it, let’s cook. It culminated at the 18th, as Paul Azinger questioned his decision to pull driver on arguably the most dangerous driving hole on the PGA Tour schedule. With a one-shot lead, it might be safer to hit some shorter club and make the miss smaller, neutralizing the water all down the left side.

But Rory did not debate any other play. He is the best driver in the world. He has been this even during the frustrating stretches that felt like wasted time. Just a day after he murdered the ball right down the water line at the 18th, Rory hit the big stick right down the middle again on Sunday. It came just moments after Azinger had second-guessed it. Azinger was not in the wrong to bring it up — that’s his job and why he’s good at it. But in that moment, Rory channeled what his former caddie, JP Fitzgerald, once chastised him with during those underwhelming moments — “You’re Rory McIlroy, what the fuck are you doing?” There was no other play — use what you’re best at the world with and end it.

The drive was a rope that went nearly 300 yards into the perfect position. Then on the approach shot, the part of his game that’s often led to the frustration, he got even more aggressive, going left of an already left pin on the water side of the green. Rory stuck it, two-putted for his par, and strutted to collect another career benchmark trophy.

The par capped a 3-under back nine full of nuked drives, stuffed approach shots, and some clutch putts. With a manic pace all around him and challengers popping up everywhere, this was the full Rory and the opposite of that tease we watched so many times the last two years.

This week was a well-timed exhibit of why he’s so beloved among peers, fans, and the media (hi!). The way he’s played all season, even before this win, he was going to get back to favorite status for The Masters. This championship and this win stand on its own, but with Rory, everything is also framed in the context of what it means for Augusta National. We can’t wait to get there.

We’ll have more holistic thoughts coming on a final round that was one of the best in years on the PGA Tour. But for now, here are your final scores from TPC Sawgrass: