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Given Another Chance, McIlroy gets his Major
Rory McIlroy never wished for a do-over – only a second chance.
When he got it, he grabbed on and didn't let go.
He went from learning lessons at the Masters to teaching them at the U.S. Open, from absorbing a heartbreaking loss in Augusta to administering a record-setting beating near Washington.
He did it with precision on the golf course and tenderness during the victory celebration, grabbing his dad by the neck for a big hug, then telling him "This one's for you," as he accepted his first major-championship trophy.
He won with a performance that goes down as one of the best in the history of the sport – a wire-to-wire stranglehold that spilled fresh ink all over the U.S. Open record book and tears in his home of Northern Ireland.
"There's a lot of joy," McIlroy said, "and especially with this victory, there's quite a bit of relief, as well."
McIlroy shot 2-under 69 on Sunday to finish his four-day U.S. Open golf clinic and set aside the pain of his Masters meltdown for good. His overall score of 16-under 268 shattered the U.S. Open record – held by Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and two others – by four strokes.
Jason Day's second-place score of 8 under tied for the third-best score in relation to par in U.S. Open history. But Day, like everyone else, knew how this one was going to turn out.
"I'm not going to go home and cry because I got whooped," Day said. "But Rory, you can't beat a guy that's gone out and played as well as he has this week."
The two greatest players in the game knew what they had seen. Tiger Woods said, "What a performance from start to finish." Nicklaus, who had been mentoring McIlroy over the past several months, was equally impressed.
"We are all aware that he has been there before, but he showed that he learned from his mistakes, and he showed that he knew how to play the last two days with a big lead," Nicklaus said. "Not only did Rory know how to play with a big lead, he played it confidently, played it smartly, and he never put himself in position to be in trouble."
Though it's only been two months, McIlroy has come a long way since he blew his four-shot lead and shot 80 on the last day at the Masters. A conversation with his father, Gerry, shortly after that collapse told the father everything he needed to know about his son.
"I said, Rory, are you OK, son?' Because you always fear for your kids," Gerry McIlroy said. "And he says, 'Dad, um, I have no problem with it at all. I hit a few bad shots. And if you play golf, then you'll understand that.'"
The hole that best defined how far McIlroy has come was No. 10, which is where his meltdown began at Augusta with a tee shot that strayed so far left, nobody could remember seeing a ball there before.
The 10th at Congressional is a 214-yard, downhill par 3 over water that had been frightening the players since the beginning of the week. McIlroy spun the ball to 2 inches.
He made birdie there to get to 17 under, then a par on 11 to keep his lead at eight strokes.
"After I got past the 11th, I sort of knew I would have had to have done something really, really stupid to not win," McIlroy said.
He did make two bogeys down the stretch, including his first three-putt of the tournament on the 17th green, maybe just to prove he's human. Besides that, it was another day of accurate drives and high, spinning shots into soft greens.
On the way to his victory, McIrloy also set the 36- and 54-hole scoring records and reached 17-under par – a number five shots better than the best score anyone had ever reached at any time in the history of the tournament.
At what is supposed to be the toughest test in golf, McIlroy more than passed. Over four days of nearly perfect ball control off the tee box and the fairway, he hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation – 86 percent. The leader on the PGA Tour, where the courses are easier, hits 72 percent.
Stats like those explain how McIlroy shot four rounds in the 60s, joining Lee Trevino and Lee Janzen as the only players to do that at a U.S. Open.
"To have the lowest four-round total, the most amount of strokes under par, they're all really nice records," McIlroy said. "I said this on Friday after everyone was talking about the lowest 36-hole, the lowest this, the lowest that. I said it's nice, but I'll be able to enjoy it a little bit more if I have the trophy on Sunday. And it's worked out that way."
With the rain that saturated the course and rough that didn't live up to U.S. Open standards, this turned into one of the easiest venues the tournament has seen.
The course yielded 239 birdies Sunday – an average of more than 3.3 per player – and 32 rounds under par, beating the U.S. Open record for the weekend that had been set the day before.
But to most players, that didn't take away from McIlroy's victory.
"If you play well, and obviously Rory has, then you deserve to make birdies and shoot a good score," said Lee Westwood, one of the few who, heading into Sunday, hadn't already conceded the title. "If you play poorly, then you got punished out there. It was a good, fair, honest test. I thought it was great."
Westwood joined Y.E. Yang, Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell in a four-way tie for third. They all knew they were in the `B' flight of this tournament, and when they came off the course, they answered question after question about the winner.
"I think he has probably the most talent I've ever seen from a golfer," said world No. 1 Luke Donald.
Padraig Harrington: "I think Rory has set himself apart now in potential."
McIlroy's buddy, Graeme McDowell: "Nothing this kid does ever surprises me. He's the best player I've ever seen."
McDowell and McIlroy make it back-to-back championships for Northern Ireland, where the song "Rory, Rory Hallelujah," was echoing late in the evening at the Holywood Golf Club.
But this win figures to reverberate beyond his native land.
Golf has been looking for someone to take the spot Woods once held, before his personal life and game took a turn for the worse. Over a near-flawless week at Congressional, McIlroy put on a performance that foreshadowed bigger things to come.
"He's great for golf. He's a breath of fresh air for the game, and perhaps we're ready for golf's next superstar," McDowell said. "And maybe Rory is it."
Original Article —> http://golfdigest.stats.com/golf/story.asp?i=20110619185129647146608&ref=rec&tm=&src=GOLF
I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear
OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.
LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break
Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.
Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.
On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.
On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.
On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.
PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home
Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.
On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.
Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?
Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.
Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?
PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates
Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.
Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.
Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.
Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.
We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025
GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.
Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.
Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.
General Albums
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #2
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Scotty Kennon – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Austin Duncan – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Will Chandler – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kevin Roy – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ben Griffin – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ryan Gerard – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Adam Schenk – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kurt Kitayama – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Camilo Villegas – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matti Schmid – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
Pullout Albums
- Denny McCarthy’s custom Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Swag Golf putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Karl Vilips TM MG5 wedges – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- New Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matt Fitzpatrick’s custom Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX
7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)
‘Why would anybody want to change that swing?’ – Brandel Chamblee says PGA Tour star was wrong to change his swing
‘The stupidest freaking thing I’ve ever heard’ – Billy Horschel slams Open idea suggested by Padraig Harrington
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Golfer proudly posts photo of ball mark on iron, receives immediate roasting
WITB Time Machine: Matthew Wolff’s winning WITB, 2019 3M Open
Oakmont Country Club bans Wyndham Clark over locker incident; Reveals specific conditions to earn reinstatement
Adam Scott puts Callaway blades in the bag at Wyndham Championship
Report: LIV star fires caddie and coach in shock shake up
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’
The championship formula: How 3 key stats separate winners from the field
Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
