Rory McIlroy sealed his British Open championship not with thunderous drives that had put him in commanding position, but with deft precision in short-game prowess at the final two holes.
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Forget record victory margins, writes Tom Fordyce, new Open champion Rory McIlroy knows a narrow win is as sweet as any.
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Rory McIlroy shot a 1-under 71 to secure the third leg of the career Grand Slam and his first Open Championship.
The facts and figures below, courtesy of the Golf Channel’s editorial research unit, spell out Rory’s place in major history, Sergio Garcia’s major waiting game, Rickie Fowler’s major consistency, Tiger Woods’ major struggles and more.
On Rory McIlroy:
This is McIlroy’s third major victory, following the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA Championship.
At 25, McIlroy is only the fourth player ever to win multiple majors wire-to-wire with no ties, joining Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Ray Floyd. He’s also the youngest to do it.
Rory is the first European player ever to win three different major championships.
He is the fourth youngest player to win the Open and the youngest Open champion since the then-24-year-old Woods in 2000.
McIlroy’s 17-under par is the fourth-best score to par in Open Championship history, behind only Woods in 2000 (-19), Woods in 2006 (-18, also at Hoylake) and Nick Faldo in 1990 (-18).
On Rory, Jack and Tiger:
The only players in Rory McIlroy’s company at age 25 in the modern history of golf’s major championships are Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Those three are the only players at 25 or younger to …
• win a major by eight or more shots
• win a major at 16-under or better
• win three or more majors
• win three legs of career grand slam
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On Sergio Garcia:
Tied with Rickie Fowler for second place, Garcia claimed his fourth runner-up finish in a major and his second at the Open.
Sunday marked Garcia’s sixth top-3 finish in a major. Lee Westwood (8) is the only player with more top-3 finishes and without a major.
Speaking even further to his close calls, this is Garcia’s 10th career top-5 finish in a major and his 19th top-10.
His Sunday 66 tied lowest final round in a major.
On Rickie Fowler:
Fowler has now finished second in back-to-back majors, becoming the first to do s0 since Jason Day at the 2011 Masters and U.S. Open. Coincidentally, it was McIlroy who gave away the 2011 Masters before winning the U.S. Open.
After going T-5, T-2 and T-2, Fowler is the first player to finish in the top 5 of each of the year’s first three majors since Tiger Woods in 2005, except Tiger won two of the three.
Three of Fowler’s four major top 5s have come in 2014. The other was at the 2011 British.
On Tiger Woods:
At 6-over par, Woods finished 23 shots behind the champion, the furthest back he’s ever finished in a major.
Six-over par also represents Tiger’s second-to-worst score to par at the Open. He was 10-over, but actually T-7, in 1999.
Major championships held since Tiger’s last win at the 2008 U.S. Open: 25.
Woods, 38, has won more chance to win a major this season at the PGA before falling Nicklaus’ pace. Jack had 15 of his 18 by the age of 38.
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Notables from the game of golf – his competitors and otherwise – were quick to compliment 2014 Champion Golfer of the Year Rory McIlroy after he claimed his first Claret Jug for winning the British Open.
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Rory McIlroy says it feels incredible to win the Open at the age of 25.
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HOYLAKE, England – Watching the BBC broadcast, Graeme McDowell said that he felt “jealousy” watching Rory McIlroy march off the 16th tee, this close to the claret jug.
No, that wasn’t the right word, G-Mac said a few moments later.
“Just envious and respectful and appreciative of the curly-haired kid,” he said.
They may or may not be as close as they once were, but McDowell heaped nothing but praise upon McIlroy, his former stablemate, in the wake of his two-shot victory Sunday at the Open.
“You can’t play much better than Rory is hitting the ball,” he said. “That’s as good as it gets.”
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Only two weeks removed from his French Open victory, McDowell didn’t play too shabby at Royal Liverpool either, improving each day (74-69-68-67) to finish joint ninth and earn some valuable Ryder Cup points.
“I’d love it to be me,” he said of making the walk down the 18th fairway, title in hand. “It’s the greatest walk in the world of golf. It’s in there inside of me somewhere.”
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Rory McIlroy becomes the first Northern Irishman to win three Major titles as he claims The Open Championship by two shots at Royal Liverpool.
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Rory McIlroy held off a string of challengers to win The Open Championship and claim the third leg of a career Grand Slam at Royal Liverpool.
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Rory McIlroy completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the British Open to capture the third leg of the career Grand Slam.
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