That was fun. Plain and simple…watching the Arnold Palmer Invitational was just plain fun. We idle golfers of the North, still frozen out by winter had a grand old time watching Rory McIlroy put on a show as he sprinted past a bunch of big names to steal the win.
McIlroy did his best Usain Bolt imitation as he sprinted past a crowded leaderboard with a back nine 31 to finish with a breathtaking 64. His mad dash included five birdies on his last six holes (with a near miss on 17) and a miraculous chip in.
He looked liked the Rory of old with massive, straight drives and putts that rolled true and center cut. McIlroy passed a group of accomplished golfers that included Henrik Stenson, Bryson Dechambeau, Justin Rose and held off that guy in the red shirt too.
Stenson looked tentative all day and carded a 71. Justin Rose was bogey free with a solid 67 but McIlroy’s 64 was too much for them all. Tiger Woods raised some heart rates early on when he got to twelve under after thirteen but died with a drive out of bounds on sixteen. DeChambeau was the nearest contender as he made an eagle on the sixteenth but McIlroy’s birdie on eighteen essentially finished him off.
The golf world watched Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey finish off “comebacks” the past two weeks on the PGA Tour and to some degree this is another one.
McIlroy had started 2018 well with a second and a T3 on the European Tour. But he seemed to leave his game there. His transition to the PGA Tour was miserable with a missed cut, T20, T59 and another missed cut last week at The Valspar.
His bogey free, eight under par 64 today was vindication for a golfer that many had discounted and some had called lost. He had struggled mightily with his putter but after some time spent with putting guru Brad Faxon this week it looked like vintage McIlroy as he went for every putt and found the hole more frequently then he ever had. His 100 putts for the week was the fewest he ever needed in a PGA Tour event. And his driver was as pure and as long as ever. He averaged 335 off the tee and hit 74% of his fairways in the final round and led the field in strokes gained putting for the week.
That will get it done.
McIlroy had missed plenty of golf the last two years due to injuries and had dropped out of the top ten in the world golf rankings. With John Rahm, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson lighting it up McIlroy had become an afterthought. Winless in eighteen months was unacceptable for an uber competitive McIlroy.
He’s not winless any longer. The Masters is right around the corner and McIlroy will be looking for a win to complete his career grand slam.
Man, this is going to be fun.
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