Category: Golf

• McIlroy wins by five shots from Xander Schauffele
• Wells Fargo Championship is last event before US PGA

Rory McIlroy claimed back-to-back PGA Tour titles as he overhauled Xander Schauffele with a stunning back-nine display at the Wells Fargo Championship.

The world No 2, who claimed the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry a fortnight ago, started the final round one shot behind Schauffele but romped home with an inward 32 to win in style. A six-under 65 saw McIlroy finish 17 under as he triumphed at Quail Hollow for a fourth time and provided the perfect tune-up for the US PGA Championship at Valhalla – the scene of his most recent major victory in 2014.

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• Sagstrom and Zhang break free from field at Founders Cup
• Korda, 25 ,was bidding for record sixth straight LPGA win

Madelene Sagstrom and Rose Zhang left Nelly Korda and everyone else way behind Saturday in the Cognizant Founders Cup.

Trying to win a record sixth straight LPGA Tour event, Korda was 11 shots behind Sagstrom and 10 back of two-time NCAA champion Zhang with a round left at Upper Montclair Country Club.

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• Decision set to cause consternation with sponsors and partners
• ‘It got pretty complicated and pretty messy,’ declared golfer

The internal politics of the PGA Tour have been placed into sharp focus after Rory McIlroy was astonishingly prevented from returning to a position of power within the organisation. The inability of McIlroy to take places on the PGA Tour policy board and as a director of PGA Tour Enterprises is certain to cause consternation among sponsors and partners, including the European Tour Group.

Webb Simpson planned to resign from both boards, with the former US Open champion offering specific instruction that he wanted McIlroy to take on the positions. The 35-year-old, who has been frustrated at the time being taken to unify golf, was happy to step forward.

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• Kim makes crucial birdie at last in CJ Cup Byron Nelson
• English teenager is son of former LGPA player Ji-Hyuh Suh

English teenager Kris Kim became the youngest player to make the cut on the PGA Tour in 11 years after a birdie at the last saw him get through to the weekend of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas with a shot to spare.

Amateur Kim, the son of former LPGA player Ji-Hyun Suh, made a second-round four-under-par 67, which included a run of five birdies and one bogey over his front nine.

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• Duo beat US pair Trainer and Ramey in Zurich Classic playoff
• McIlroy hails victory as ‘absolutely amazing’ at TPC Louisiana

Irish pair Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry came through a playoff to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

At the end of the fourth round, Lowry made the most of a superb chip on to the 18th green by McIlroy by sinking a birdie putt, extending the contest as they joined Martin Trainer and Chad Ramey on 25 under at TPC Louisiana.

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World No 2 basically auditioning for acceptance to return to policy board is faintly ludicrous in increasingly fractured sport

The most unpalatable and unlikely scenario could be a necessary one. Rory McIlroy to LIV has been rumoured, slapped down, rumoured and slapped down. Yet as the PGA Tour procrastinates over completion of a deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, and even the formal involvement of McIlroy himself, one wonders if it may take something nuclear to allow golf to wake up to the haplessness of its present, fractured state. Should McIlroy sign for golf’s rebel tour the establishment would be sent into a level of frenzy so serious that collaboration between the PGA Tour, LIV and the PIF would surely transpire in a heartbeat.

There is no suggestion this will happen. Still, Greg Norman knew precisely what he was doing in recent days. “If Rory was willing to sit down and have a conversation with us, would we be happy to sit down with him?” Norman said. “100%.” McIlroy is not actually the PGA Tour’s main concern. The live prospect of LIV continuing a talent drain on established tours into 2025 should be the prime cause for fear. While not McIlroy, it could be Viktor Hovland. If not Hovland, it could be Tommy Fleetwood. The PGA Tour and its marquee events are being materially harmed by golf’s lack of compatibility. This will continue to be the case while the PGA Tour wanders aimlessly on one path and LIV confidently on another.

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• American edges fast-finishing South African at Grange Golf Club
• Cameron Smith leads Ripper GC to teams championship in playoff

American Brendan Steele has held of a fast-finishing Louis Oosthuizen for a one-shot win at LIV Golf’s Adelaide tournament. Steele finished 18 under at the Grange Golf Club after firing a four-under 68 in Sunday’s final round.

South Africa’s Oosthuizen (17 under) charged with a blemish-free seven-under 65. Former world No 1 Jon Rahm also threatened with an eagle and six birdies in a superb 64 but fell short.

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• PGA, LIV Golf and DP World Tour aiming to strike deal
• The 34-year-old spoke to Webb Simpson about taking his seat

Rory McIlroy has said “hard feelings” will need to be put aside to achieve peace in golf’s civil war but believes he “can be helpful” if he returns to the PGA Tour policy board.

As first reported by the Guardian on Monday, McIlroy is set to rejoin the PGA Tour board just months after stepping down. The 34-year-old will hope to assist in striking a deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV Golf.

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• New chief executive of European Tour group welcomes move
• McIlroy motivated by desire to end split in elite men’s golf

The newly installed chief executive of the European Tour group, Guy Kinnings, has urged the PGA Tour to seize the opportunity provided by Rory McIlroy’s willingness to return to the boardroom to help heal divisions in the game.

The Guardian revealed on Monday that McIlroy will assume roles on the PGA Tour’s policy board and the PGA Tour Enterprises board, subject to a vote on Wednesday. McIlroy is motivated by a strong desire to end the current split in elite men’s golf, where the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Tour are essentially operating independently of each other.

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• World No 1 wins RBC Heritage on Monday morning
• American has 40 consecutive rounds at par or better

A Masters green jacket wasn’t enough for Scottie Scheffler. The American was running on emotional fumes fresh off his four-shot victory at Augusta National, but full of purpose that more than made up for his lack of preparation for the RBC Heritage. The result not only was similar, it has come to be expected.

He rarely missed a shot. He gave little hope to those chasing him. And he walked away from Harbour Town on Monday morning with another victory that extended a dominance not seen since the peak years of Tiger Woods. Scheffler now has won four of his last five starts, the exception a runner-up finish in the Houston Open when he misread a 5ft birdie putt that would have forced a playoff.

“I didn’t show up here just to have some sort of ceremony and have people tell me congratulations. I came here with a purpose,” Scheffler said after polishing off a three-under 68 for a three-shot victory.

Victory was inevitable – Scheffler had a five-shot lead with three holes to play when the final round, delayed because of storms on Sunday afternoon, was suspended by darkness.

He considers Harbor Town one of his tougher wins because it followed the Masters.

“Coming off the high last week to going into here, not really with a ton of energy, not really with a ton of prep work,” Scheffler said. “I think it’s underrated how difficult it is to do the stuff that Tiger was doing, and win like every single week. It takes a lot out of you emotionally and physically, especially major championships.”

Scheffler now has 40 consecutive rounds at par or better, a streak that began at East Lake in the Tour Championship last August. His position at No 1 in the world is so great that he became the first player since Woods to crack the 15-point average mark.

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