Rory McIIroy wins British Open
Rory McIlroy, the 25 year old from County Down, Northern Ireland, won his first British Open by two strokes earlier today, holding off a strong challenge from Sergio Garcia at Royal Liverpool.
McIlroy carded a final round 71, while Sergio Garcia put together a remarkable round of 66 to give the young Irishman some cause for concern down the back nine. Rickie Fowler, paired with McIlroy, managed a 67 and tied at 15 under par 273 with Garcia, but it wasn’t enough to beat the 271 that eventually won the tournament.
The victory made McIlroy the third youngest men’s player in history to win three of the four major titles. The youngest two are Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, the two men who have won more major titles than anyone else.
McIlroy has now won the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship and he might by now have completed the career grand slam if he hadn’t blown a four shot lead in the 2011 Masters Tournament by shooting a final round 80.
Currently, only five golfers have completed the feat of winning all four of golf’s modern Majors in their career and they are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Had McIlroy won the Masters in 2011, he would have joined Tiger Woods as the youngest to win the career grand slam, aged 25.
His time will surely come! Perhaps in 2015?
