McIlroy wins to secure back-to-back titles

‘Roy wonder: World No.1 Rory McIlroy stormed to his second consecutive PGA Tour title

‘Imperious’ Rory drives to glory in the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick

Rory McIlroy stormed to victory in the BMW Championship to continue a stunning run of form which has seen him rack up wins in three of his last four PGA Tour events.

The Northern Irishman was in imperious form at Crooked Stick Golf Club to win his second consecutive FedEx Cup Playoff event following his triumph in the Deutsche Bank Championship seven days earlier.

A final round of five-under-par 67 was enough to seal the deal for McIlroy, with a solitary bogey at the last the only blemish on his card. That gave him a two-shot win over joint runners-up Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood, with Tiger Woods a further shot behind in a share of fourth alongside Robert Garrigus.

The win consolidated McIlroy’s position at the top of the world rankings and gives him a commanding lead going into the final FedEx event, the Tour Championship, which begins in little under a fortnight.

Even so, the 23-year-old admitted that he wasn’t quite at his best this week.

“I felt like I was probably a little bit more on my game last week ,” said McIlroy. “I scrambled really well to give myself a chance going into the last round. But I drove the ball beautifully today and set myself up to attack those pins.

“I’m on a great run at the minute and I’m going to try to keep that going as long as possible.”

McIlroy’s victory was his sixth PGA Tour title in total and he insisted that the FedEx Cup tournaments matter a great deal to him.

“They’re big,” he said. “You’ve got the best players in the world every week. The fields are really deep and it’s great to be able to win events like this. This is where I belong. I’ve always wanted to play on the PGA Tour and it’s working out well.”

With his victory, McIlroy became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour, and he also joined Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win at least six wins on the circuit events before turning 24.

Meanwhile, Martin Laird’s hopes of reaching the Tour Championship ended with a whimper as he shot a dismal final round of 81 to finish in a tie for 62nd and plummet to 64th on the FedEx Cup standings. Only the top 30 players on the standings advance to the grand finale at East Lake GC in Atlanta.

Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered