Rory McIlroy roars to victory at THE PLAYERS Championship

Rory McIlroy showed off his ball-striking skills, and incredible courage, coming up clutch to win THE PLAYERS Championship by a stroke over Jim Furyk.

Rory McIlroy took to the tee box of the 72nd hole leading THE PLAYERS Championship by one stroke. Water threatened down the left side of the narrow doglegged fairway, and No. 18 had been the most difficult hole all week. The choice seemed, at once, obvious to the four-time major winner and former World No. 1.

Without hesitation, Rory McIlroy pulled driver.

In the name of Jean Van deVelde, this might have been one of those Tin Cup moments where the caddie grabs the driver and breaks it. After all, McIlroy needed only par, not birdie, to secure the victory, something he could easily get with a well-placed long iron to the middle of the fairway.

But McIlroy has a love affair with his driver, and it is mutual. At 1.308, he is first on tour this season in Strokes Gained Driving and – with an average of 312.3 yards – fifth in average driving distance. So he pulled driver, envisioned the water as non-existent, and blew his drive 288 yards distant, cutting the water-guarded dogleg dead down the middle and stopping in the fairway.

From there the path to the green was a simple 154-yard 9-iron which McIlroy dropped 12 feet from the cup, rendering the ensuing missed putt irrelevant.

When you are the best driver of a golf ball in the world, you treat the lakes at TPC Sawgrass with a level of amusement, suggesting that they are more of an obstacle to your walking route than your score.

McIlroy’s final round of 70 was good enough to hold off Jim Furyk’s Sunday charge and overtake Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood, both of whom stumbled on the island 17th. He won it with his driver, and with every other ball-striking club in his bag. In combination, they helped him survive an indifferent short game.

But that’s the way Rory McIlroy usually rolls. At TPC Sawgrass, he averaged 1.77 Strokes Gained Off The Tee, about a half stroke better than his season average. With the advantage of frequently playing from an ideal position in the fairway, he absolutely slayed his iron game, netting 2.161 Strokes Gained Approaching the green. That’s about 1.4 strokes better than even his usually solid iron game performance.

In combination, those skills gave McIlroy close to a 3.9 stroke per round advantage on the field before he ever had to pull a chipper or a putter. He is generally indifferent on greens, averaging just 0.326 Strokes Gained this season, but on the occasions when McIlroy doesn’t destroy his chances putting the rest of his game makes him a contender. That’s what happened at THE PLAYERS Championship.

The putting game is an odd factor on tour. Over the course of a full season, putting correlates more weakly with score than any other measurable skill. For the entire season, driving and the ability to hit a green in regulation are the skills that pay off. But so wide are the week-to-week variations in player performance on greens that at any individual event the hot putter often contends.

This was readily apparent at the Players. Of the top 10 finishers, five averaged more than 1.0 Strokes Gained Putting per round for the week. Seven out-putted their seasonal averages, five by nine-tenths of a stroke or better.

By the historical standards of the Players, McIlroy’s victory ranked as merely average. His dominance score was just -2.22, only the 36th most dominant in the 46-season history of the event. That, however, is a reflection on the competitiveness of the tournament, which saw 11 players finish within four strokes of the lead.

If nothing else, his victory demonstrated that Rory McIlroy can, when necessary, survive under pressure…something he has not always had to do in big events. Of his 15 tour victories, five have come by three strokes or more and two – the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA – were eight-stroke wins at majors.

His 2019 season has been an illustration of that question mark on McIlroy’s record. In his previous six starts, he has had five top six finishes…but no victories. That “blemish” (if you can even call it that) is now firmly in the rear-view mirror. The next stop? Augusta National, where McIlroy will try to exorcise one final demon, once and for all.