Young Rory McIlroy Wins His First PGA Tour At Quail Hollow Championship
Northern Ireland's golfer Rory McIlroy performed brilliantly to his first PGA Tour defeating veteran Phil Mickelson by four strokes and Angel Cabrera by five in the Quail Hollow Championship.
The Irish golfer will turn 21 after two days but he showed the class and maturity of a seasoned golfer combining sensational shot making with a flair for the dramatic and the exuberance of youth to walk away with the title. McIlroy dominated the final 36 holes. He added a round of eight birdies and an eagle yesterday for a 15-under total of 273. Mickelson and Cabrera each shot 68 in the final round, but McIlroy held his nerves.
“You know, the last two days it seemed as if everything had just gone right,” “You get yourself into sort of a mind-set like that, and you just keep going,” said McIlroy, who became the youngest winner on the tour since Tiger Woods. The American golfer had won the Las Vegas Invitational in 1996, when he was just 20 years old.
McIlroy ties with Cabrera at nine under as he birdied four holes, including the seventh through the ninth. As the Irish phenomenon walked off the 11th tee, his caddie, J. P. Fitzgerald, told him, “Let’s try to get to 13 under.”
He then hit a 9-iron to within 3 feet and then placed it in the putt to get to 10 under. Talking about the youngster, Mickelson said, “You knew he was going to come out and win out here. He’s won in all the other places in the world. At 20 years old, it’s remarkable. He is some kind of player.”
