Rory McIlroy obliterates Wells Fargo tournament record en route to win
The outcome was never in doubt on Sunday, but it was stunning nonetheless.
Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday at Quail Hollow with a final round of 3-under 69, posting a 21-under total that was seven shots clear of Webb Simpson and Patrick Rodgers.
The world No. 1 entered the final round with a four-shot edge over Quail Hollow member Simpson, but it must have felt like a thousand shots between the two-time 2014 major winner and the 2012 U.S. Open winner. After a 1-over start through four holes, McIlroy put his foot on the accelerator and made two birdies in three holes to establish a solid edge.
Following the turn, McIlroy made three birdies in the first seven holes, including thumping a driver 365 yards on the 510-yard 16th, followed by a gap wedge to 3 feet for the final circle on the card. The Ulsterman dropped a shot at the long par-3 17th before a solid par at the finishing hole to surpass Anthony Kim’s previous tournament record by five shots.
This is McIlroy’s second win in his last three PGA Tour starts, following up on a win at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play and a T-8 finish at The Players. This also marked his last PGA Tour start before the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. He’ll next play at the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship event, then the Irish Open.
For Rodgers, he turned in a brilliant performance but came up one shot shy of earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. Had he finished solo second, he would have been able to take unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season. However, with assured appearances in the next three PGA Tour events, the 22-year-old college standout is looking good to lock up that special status.
McIlroy, however, has earned a different kind of status. With his 11th PGA Tour win, McIlroy passes Gary Player as the foreign-born player with the most Tour wins before the age of 30. McIlroy is just 26, so he’s likely to obliterate that record just as he did the field this week.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
