Contributed by GlobalGolfPost
There can be no doubt, no question, no dispute. Rory McIlroy is the No. 1 player in the world, and given the kind of golf he has displayed in the last month, he will hold that spot for some time.
McIlroy won the BMW Championship on Sunday for his second consecutive PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff event and his third victory in his last four starts, which includes the PGA Championship in August at Kiawah Island.
He is by far No. 1 in points in the three playoff events going into The Tour Championship next week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The playoffs take a week off following the BMW Championship.
McIlroy has now won four events on the PGA Tour this year and is a certainty for Player of the Year honors. And he can win the $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup playoffs at East Lake.
“I knew I could win big tournaments but I didn’t think it would come this quickly,” said the 23-year-old McIlroy. “I’m on quite a little run right now and I’m trying to keep that going as long as possible.”
McIlroy shot a final-round, 5-under 67 to post 20-under-par 268 at Crooked Stick Golf Club – site of the 1991 PGA Championship – good enough for a two-shot victory over playing companion Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson.
This playoff event created the most buzz because of the quality of the field that was on the leaderboard most of the last two days. Joining the top three players in the fray were Dustin Johnson, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott all pushing toward the lead at some point during the weekend.
But McIlroy put his nose in front with four birdies in his first 10 holes to move ahead of 54-hole co-leaders Singh and Mickelson and took the lead for good with birdies at the par-5 15th, which he reached in two, and a birdie at the par-4 16th. He had a three-shot lead going into the final hole and made his first bogey in 27 holes for the final winning margin.
Woods shot 68 on Sunday to tie with Robert Garrigus (69) for fourth at 17 under. Johnson and Scott were next at 16 under. Singh shot 73 and went from safely inside the top 30 to outside the list with three bogeys in his last five holes.
Bill Haas, last year’s FedEx Cup champion, fell outside the top 30 and failed to advance to The Tour Championship with a 78 on Sunday. Garrigus and Ryan Moore were the only players outside the top 30 to play their way in, replacing Haas and Kyle Stanley, who fell out.
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