Rory McIlroy put an exclamation mark on a memorable week to kick off a new era for the RBC Canadian Open.
McIlroy even dampened the hopes of Canadians hoping to retire that nasty streak of 65 years without a native son winning the national championship, dating back to Pat Fletcher’s victory in 1954.
The partisan fans forgave him, however, as McIlroy, who went into the final round in a tie for first went on a birdie binge right out of the gate on Sunday when he collected one on each of his first two holes, parred the third, then added two more on the fourth and fifth holes before making the turn at five under.
It didn’t end there. After parring the 10th, he added four consecutive birdies between the 11th and 14th holes before a wild finish that saw him go bogey-eagle-bogey on his final three holes to finish with a 61.
“I played with a little more freedom; I was a little more aggressive. That was really it. That confidence just came from my range sessions last weekend going into this week and the shots I was hitting on the course. My confidence just sort of grew all week,” said McIlroy.
“That freedom just to swing away and be committed to what I was doing, that’s really the difference between being in a final group and walking away with the trophy or not,” he added.
While it wasn’t the 59 some, including McIlroy, were anticipating, the nine-under 61 that was the final number left him seven shots ahead of his nearest rivals. With McIlroy on top at 22 under, Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson tied for second at 15 under.
Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar tied for fourth at 13 under, with Adam Hadwin winning the Rivermead Cup as low Canadian for the fourth time in his career. After starting the day one shot off the lead, Hadwin shot a 70 to finish sixth at 12 under.
The final leaderboard is here.
PGA Tour Champions
Stephen Ames tied for 47th at the Mastercard Japan Championship, finishing all three rounds at two over, including a final round, three-under 69.
All the scores are here.
Web.com Tour
Brad Fritsch shot his second consecutive round of three-under 68 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greer, S.C., an event shortened to 54 holes due to the inclement weather that disrupted play throughout the week.
Fritsch ended up tied for 24th at 12 under after all three rounds.
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LPGA Tour
Anne-Catherine Tanguay and Brooke Henderson each tied for 11th at four under as the Shoprite LPGA Classic drew to a close in Galloway, N.J.
Tanguay fired a final round, four-under 67 on Sunday, while Henderson finished with a 68.
Another shot back in a tie for 21st was Alena Sharp, who finished with a 72 on Sunday.
The final leaderboard is here.
Symetra Tour
Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., shot a five-under 67 in Sunday’s final round of the Four Winds Invitational, where she tied for third. Leblanc finished all three rounds at six under.
Another shot back in a tie for fifth in South Bend, Ind., was Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont,, who finished on Sunday with a 70.
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