Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship for a record fourth time Sunday, overcoming a two-stroke deficit to beat Xander Schauffele by five strokes.
No other player has won the event more than twice.
McIlroy closed with a 6-under 65 at Quail Hollow, playing
the final 11 holes in 6 under even with a double bogey on the 18th hole. He
finished at 17-under 267 after four straight rounds in the 60s and won his
second straight PGA Tour event after teaming with Shane Lowry to take the
Zurich Classic two weeks ago in New Orleans.
Schauffele shot 71.
McIlroy trailed by two after Schauffele made an eagle on the
par-5 seventh, but the world’s second-ranked player quickly shifted into
another gear.
The star from Northern Ireland pulled even after birdies on
Nos. 8 and 9 and then made a 33-foot eagle putt on the 10th for his first lead
of the tournament.
McIlroy’s finish was reminiscent of 2010 when he carded six
straight 3s en route to a final round 62 to beat Phil Mickleson for his first
career PGA Tour win. He also won the event in 2015 and 2021.
LPGA TOUR
Rose Zhang won the Cognizant Founders Cup to end Nelly
Korda’s record-tying LPGA Tour winning streak, rallying to beat Madelene
Sagstrom by two strokes.
Zhang birdied four of the final five holes to overcome a
three-shot deficit in a thrilling final-round duel with Sagstrom after the two
broke away from the field Saturday.
Zhang shot a 6-under 66, birdieing Nos. 14, 15, 17 and 18 at
Upper Montclair Country Club. Sagstrom bogeyed the 16th in a 69.
Korda, who struggled the final two days after playing
magnificently in winning the five straight events she entered, had a second
straight 73 and tied for seventh at 7 under.
After her final putt, Zhang bent over and put her hands to
her mouth, before walking to hug caddie Oliver Brett. The two-time NCAA
champion at Stanford who won last year at nearby Liberty National in her pro
debut, finished at 24 under 264 total — the best score in the three years the
event has been held here.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Doug Barron won the Regions Tradition for his third PGA Tour
Champions victory and first major title, shooting a 4-under 68 to hold off
Steven Alker by two strokes.
Barron finished at 17-under 271 at Greystone in the first of
the season’s five senior majors. He ended a victory drought dating to the 2021
Shaw Charity Classic. Wins eluded him throughout his PGA Tour career, where he
didn’t finish higher than third in 238 events.
But there wasn’t a lot of drama in this one as he outlasted
some of the tour’s biggest names with a bogey-free round and a casual tap-in
finish. Hall of Famers Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington ended up being the ones
offering congratulatory hugs at the end. Barron called it “a dream come true to
beat all these great players.”
Alker had a 63 to match the tournament record for Greystone.
PGA TOUR
Chris Gotterup won the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic for
his first PGA Tour title, closing with a 4-under 67 for a six-stroke victory at
Dunes Golf & Beach Club.
The tournament was played opposite the Wells Fargo
Championship. A signature event in Charlotte, North Carolina. Gotterup got a
spot in the PGA Championship next week, but not in the Masters or a guaranteed
spot in the remaining two $20 million signature events.
Four strokes ahead entering the round, Gotterup bogeyed the
first two holes, then rebounded with a birdie-eagle-birdie burst on the next
three. The 24-year-old former University of Oklahoma player won in his 27th
tour start, finishing at 22-under 262.
Alistair Docherty (64) and Davis Thompson (68) tied for
second.
Blades Brown, the second 16-year-old in two weeks to make a
cut, tied for 26th at 19 under after a 69. Last week, Kris Kim
advanced to the weekend in the Byron Nelson.
OTHER TOURS
Just over a year after Michael Hendry was diagnosed with
leukemia, he made it all the way back by winning For The Players By The Players
on the Japan Golf Tour. Hendry, a 44-year-old from New Zealand, earned six
points in modified Stableford scoring for a one-point victory over Hideto
Kobukuro. Hendry, who had to turn down his spot in the British Open last year
while being treated, won for the sixth time in his career. … Ruixin Liu of
China won the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic for her seventh career
Epson Tour title. She closed with a 7-under 64 at the TPC Scottsdale’s
Champions Course to finish at 14-under 270, three strokes ahead of Mariel
Galdiano. Hyo-Joo Kim of South Korea closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot
victory in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour in South Korea. …
Joel Moscatel of Spain birdied the last hole for a 5-under 67 and a one-shot
victory over Tapio Pulkkanen and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen in the Spanish
Challenge on the European Challenge Tour. … Michael Hollick closed with a
5-under 68 and won the FBC Zimbabwe Open by two shots over Darren Fichardt on
the Sunshine Tour. … Chisato Iwai closed with a 5-under 67 and won the RKB
Mitsui Matsushima Ladies by three shots over Saiki Fujita and Miyuu Yamashita.
Iwai now has two wins and two runner-up finishes this year on the Japan LPGA. …
Yewon Lee shot a 4-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the NH Investment &
Securities Ladies Championship on the Korean LPGA.