What was supposed to be a true icing on the cake situation for Scottie Scheffler’s 2022 PGA Tour season, turned into perhaps one of the most wholesome golfing victories we have ever seen… for Rory McIlroy. In what can only be described as the most tumultuous time in the history of the PGA no player has taken center stage off the course quite like Rory has. No one has been as consistent, forthright, and outspoken in their commitment to playing on the PGA tour and their desire to do whatever it takes to improve the tour to maintain its status as the top professional golfing tour in the world. As if Rory was not already a fan favorite before, he has emerged full on into being the people’s champion of sort.
In this season, but what feels like a life time ago, Rory started off strong by claiming victory in the CJ Cup. Come the spring events he turned in some decent performances with a T10 at Genesis followed up with a T13 at The API. Entering into The Masters Rory was searching for a true signature result on the season, trying to cap off his career grand slam by winning the green jacket. While he fell short, a truly heroic performance on Saturday sent him catapulting up the leaderboard landing him a solo second place finish. He took this momentum from Augusta and began running with it into the next events. Solo 5th at Wells Fargo, Solo 8th at the PGA championship, T18 at Memorial. With a run of good form at his back he traveled to Toronto for the RBC Canadian open to defend his title.
However, this was not to be a normal week of golf. That week was also the first week of the first LIV Golf series event. McIlroy commented to reporters before the tournament that decisions “you make in your life purely for money doesn’t usually end up going the right way.” This comment matched his tone that he carried with him around the event. Playing the week before a major, which has not always been his preference, because he wanted to defend his title in an event that meant something to him, something that money can not buy. As if he was not already a fan favorite, the people rallied around him like I have never seen before. People gathering five holes ahead of his group on the first day just to be in the front few rows, just to watch him hit one shot, before scurrying ahead on the course to do the same thing again. Being a spectator at the event, I can attest that the only player who got even a remotely similar reception to Rory was the number one Canadian in the event Corey Conners. Just to give you an idea, here is Rory hitting his tee shot on 16 from that week.
Rory would go on to win the event that week in what truly felt like a coronation of sorts as the leading face of the PGA from a player perspective. This felt even more like it would be the high point of Rory’s 2022 season after his crushing third place finish in The Open Championship that felt as if it was tailor made for him to hold the Claret Jug that weekend.
That is until this weekend. Starting off the final round Rory was six shots behind Scottie Scheffler. When Rory birded the Par 5 Sixth (bringing his par 5 scoring total on the week to 9 under through 7 holes) and Scheffler made bogey to put him at three over on the day at that point, that is when the momentum really began to feel as if it had shifted in favor of Rory. When Rory dropped a massive birdie putt on 15 to grab on to first place in the tournament, he turned around and let out a massive scream, truly from the depths of his being, that showed that he is not someone who talks the talk, this man walks the walk as well. This was a moment for him that he could not put a dollar value on. He was dueling it out down the stretch with the world number one for the tour championship. This encapsulated everything that Rory envisions this tour being about. The best players in the world playing against one another with some true context and stakes on the line. While the 18th hole proved to be a bit of a let down as far as the quality of shots that were hit on the hole, it was easy to feel yourself shifting towards the edge of your seat as you watched. It proved that big purses is not a disqualifier for interesting golf. As long as there is true investment in the competition, context to what is happening, and a historic structure to back it all up, these guys could be making hundreds of millions of dollars and it would still feel compelling. As Rory accepted his trophy from commissioner Monahan, it was immediately evident that Monahan was smitten with the outcome of the event. It was also clear that this wasn’t just another victory to Rory. When asked his first interview question he could hardly get any words out. He started by giving immense credit to Scheffler on the season that he had, saying he deserved half of the trophy. However to myself and to almost everyone else I would guess, It only felt right that Rory would be crowned as the champion of this season, because he has been all along. The history books will look favorably back on this 2022 Tour Championship because never have the words Tour Champion been so fitting for a player as they are this year for Mr. McIlroy.
