Rory McIlroy captured his first major golf title in historic fashion on Sunday, turning the final round of the 111th US Open into a virtual victory lap on his way to an eight-stroke triumph. The 22-year-old Northern Ireland prodigy fired a two-under par 69 to finish 72 holes on 16-under par 268, becoming the youngest US Open champion in 88 years and sealing a new generation’s grip at the forefront of the sport.
Masters runner-up Jason Day of Australia was a distant second on 276 with South Korean Yang Yong-Eun, England’s Lee Westwood and unheralded Americans Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell sharing third on 278. None of them mounted a serious threat to disrupt McIlroy’s wire-to-wire victory at Congressional Country Club. The Ulsterman humbled course and rivals this week in a manner mindful of how a 21-year-old Tiger Woods ripped apart Augusta National and overwhelmed the field in the 1997 Masters for the first of his 14 career major triumphs.
Woods, mired in a 20-month win drought since his infamous sex scandal, missed the US Open with a left knee injury but issued a statement praising the overwhelming effort by McIlroy, the youngest major winner since Woods in 1997. “Heck of a performance,” Woods said. “Congrats and well done. Enjoy it. This was an impressive performance.” With earlier scores of 65, 66 and 68, McIlroy became only the third player in US Open history to complete four rounds in the 60s, matching Lee Janzen and Lee Trevino in achieving the feat.
McIlroy, the youngest US Open winner since Bobby Jones in 1923, became the 11th different winner in the past 11 majors and the eighth first-time major champion among the past nine major winners.
His triumph also marked the fifth major in a row without an American winner, the longest US major drought in history. McIlroy, who has led seven of the eight major rounds completed this year, began the day with an eight-stroke lead over final-group partner Yang Yong-Eun of South Korea and made the turn with the margin intact.
McIlroy, who shared third at last year’s British Open and the past two PGA Championships, had squandered a four-stroke lead after 54 holes at the Masters two months ago, a woeful tee shot at the 10th leading to a triple bogey on his way to a final-round 80. But when McIlroy came to Congressional’s par-three 10th hole, with water in front of the green and bunkers in the back, he launched the ball safely onto the green and it rolled back inches from the cup to set up a tap-in birdie.
That put McIlroy to 17-under, five-strokes lower to par than any player at any point in any US Open ever played, and all-but ended any notion McIlroy would repeat his nightmare back-nine from Augusta National. “I think this kid is going to have a great career, no question about that,” 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus said. “He plays very well. He had a couple disappointments. I didn’t think that was going to happen agan and it hasn’t.”
McIlroy’s utter domination sparked comparisons with Woods, although the idea that a 14-time major champion might have been only the warm-up act for McIlroy’s magnificence threatened to boggle the mind of the golf world. Even when McIlroy missed a five-foot par putt at 12 for just his fourth dropped shot of the week, his second bogey after a double bogey on his 36th hole, Yang took a bogey at 15 to stay nine back.
McIlroy’s first three-putt green of the week came on the 71st hole and cost him another bogey but the boy wonder parred the 18th with a tap-in and pumped his first with joy before celebrating his Father’s Day victory with dad Gerry. McIlroy opened with an eight-foot birdie putt, sank a tense six-footer for par at the second and dropped his approach at the fourth three feet from the cup to set up another birdie, pulling 10 shots in front.
