The 2018-19 PGA Tour season has come to an end and Rory McIlroy is once again your FedEx Cup Champion. Rory becomes the only player other than Tiger Woods to have won the FedEx Cup more than once, having won it back in 2016. This caps off a marvelous season for Rory, who won three times this season, with victories at the PLAYERS Championship, RBC Canadian Open and the Tour Championship.
This season, the format of the Tour Championship was altered with a staggered leaderboard to begin the tournament. Justin Thomas, who was number one in the standings, began the tournament at 10-under par. Rory began the week at 5-under par but he quickly made up the difference. He shot a first round of 4-under 66 and continued to shoot in the 60s the rest of the week, becoming the only player in the field of thirty to have shot in the 60s in all four rounds.
This would set up a final round showdown at East Lake with reigning PGA Champion, Brooks Koepka, who also has three victories under his belt this season. Heading into the final round, Rory trailed Brooks by one shot, which is the opposite scenario a few weeks ago at the WGC-FedEx St.Jude. In fact, the roles were completely reversed this time around as Rory was able to find his game while Brooks struggled around East Lake Golf Club. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new rivalry because “revenge” was certainly on Rory’s mind after losing to Brooks in Memphis.
“Going up against the No. 1 player in the world today, he got one over on me in Memphis, and I wanted to sort of get some revenge today. To play like that alongside Brooks, get the win and win the FedEx Cup, yeah, it’s awesome.” – Rory McIlroy
Rory was also able to redeem himself from last year’s Tour Championship, when he was also paired in the final group with Tiger Woods. It was a disappointing final round for Rory in 2018 but he did have a front row seat to Tiger completing his comeback. Tiger’s victory bode well for him, as he went on to win the 2019 Masters. Perhaps, Rory will follow his childhood idol’s footsteps and complete his career Grand Slam at Augusta in 2020.
With his 17th-career PGA Tour victory and his second FedEx Cup title under his belt, Rory will play the next few weeks in Europe before heading to Asia to wrap up the year. It’s been a fantastic year to date as seen in the list of his 2019 accomplishments below. If Rory continues his momentum, we may just see the return of a dominant Rory McIlroy and see history be made next April!
Source: PGA Tour
