[caption id="attachment_70071" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Rory McIlroy, the world’s new no. 1. "]
March 4, 2012 began a reign that may last weeks, months or, perhaps, a decade or more. On this day, Rory McIlroy, by virtue of winning the Honda Classic, became the top-ranked golfer in the world, supplanting Luke Donald. In so doing, McIlroy stared down a challenge that he might not have been up to a year ago.
That challenge came in the person of Tiger Woods, who isn’t the same golfer he was at this time last year, either. Woods fired a closing-round 62 to draw to within two strokes of McIlroy and take the clubhouse lead, while the Northern Irishman still had five holes to play.
Whereas a year ago, McIlroy’s nerves might have worked against him, here he was rock steady when he needed to be and maintained that advantage while routinely holing putts measuring between three and six feet to save par.
McIlroy was always prominent in a tournament that saw Davis Love III shoot a then-course record 64 on Thursday. Both Love and his record fell by the wayside on Friday as he shot 72, but McIlroy’67 placed him just a stroke behind midway leader Tom Gillis.
McIlroy took a 2-stroke lead after the third round, in which he shot 66. He looked as if he might challenge the new PGA National standard of 61, which was established by Brian Harman on Friday. Consecutive birdies on the third through fifth holes were diminished by bogeys at the sixth and seventh, however. But he trimmed three more strokes off par coming in and was the target going out on Sunday.
Woods, who began Sunday nine strokes behind McIlroy, mounted a charge that saw him go out in 31 and come in with 31. Two eagles and four birdies, offset by no bogeys, produced his 62.
NOT HIS BEST,
BUT GOOD ENOUGH
McIlroy, meanwhile, didn’t have his best stuff on Sunday, but it was good enough. Dressed with a white sweater over a blue shirt to fend off a stiff wind, he could have been mistaken for an ice cream salesman. His iron play wasn’t top shelf, but he was able to consistently drain putts to save par. He got his first birdie at the eighth hole, and gave that back at 12. But just as the roars from the 18th green, where Woods closed out with eagle, reached the 13th green, McIlroy calmly plunked in a 4-footer for birdie to restore his 2-stroke lead.
He also found greenside bunkers at both 15 and 17, but made excellent saves to leave himself short putts for par. Needing bogey or better at 18 to win, he played things safe and removed any drama en route to his victory.
“It was great to get the job done today,” McIlroy said. “I knew going out there the conditions would be tough, and I was just trying to make as many pars as possible, and you know, when a few opportunities presented themselves, I tried to take them. That’s all I was really trying to do.
“Obviously, I saw a couple of guys making a charge and I heard the roar on 18 when Tiger made eagle and I was just about to line up my putt for birdie on 13. I was able to hole that putt, which was very important, and you know, I knew if I could just play the last five holes at even par, it was going to be good enough.”
Good enough and better than the rest. When others were shooting course records one day, but laboring the next, McIlroy was consistently good all four rounds, which was good enough for the victory and status as no. 1 player in the world. He also feels that this experience of fending off challengers will hold him in good stead going forward.
“I can take a lot from today,” McIlroy said. “The way I managed myself around the golf course, the par saves I needed to make early, I was able to do that. So there’s a lot today that I can take with me, and yeah, again, it gives me a little bit of confidence knowing if I get myself in that position again that I’m able to finish the job off.”
McDOWELL SNEAKS IN
Graeme McDowell also snuck into the top 10, finishing five strokes under par at 275, which left him seven in back of McIlroy. An opening-round 73 suggested he might miss the cut, but he responded with 64 on Friday, and followed with 69 on both days of the weekend. He sandwiched three bogeys around a birdie through the first four holes on Sunday and then played flawlessly the rest of the way, putting three birdies on his card.
Padraig Harrington was a brief factor after opening with rounds of 70 and 68. But he shot 72 and 79 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and plummeted down the leaderboard to 71st place at 289. On Sunday, he had six bogeys through the first 10 holes, and then took a double at 15 and a triple at 16, before saving some face with a birdie at 18.
Darren Clarke missed the cut by seven strokes after shooting rounds of 73 and 75. Four birdies weren’t enough to stanch the damage done by eight bogeys and two doubles, which fell consecutively on the fifth and sixth holes Friday.
