PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Rory McIlroy, the new No. 1 player in golf, is not easily rattled.
McIlroy buried a 10-foot putt for his first birdie of the day.
The pressure of trying to win and reach No. 1 in the world didn’t really hit him until he was lining up a putt on the 13th green at PGA National, his concentration shattered by a cheer that could be heard a mile away from the 18th green. It was so loud that McIlroy not only knew what it was for — an eagle on the 18th green — but who it was for.
Tiger Woods.
“I wasn’t really paying much attention until he made that eagle on 18,” McIlroy said. “I heard the huge roar. And it definitely wasn’t a birdie roar. That’s when I knew that he probably got to 10.”
That would be 10-under par for Woods, courtesy of a 62, his lowest score ever in a final round in his 15 years on tour. The birdie-eagle finish, just like the Tiger Woods of old, pulled him within one shot of the lead.
What followed was a clutch performance worthy of the new No. 1.
McIlroy made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 13th to restore a twoshot cushion. Standing some 65 feet away, in grass so deep he could barely see the golf ball, he gouged out a wedge to four feet for a par he badly needed to keep momentum.
The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland finally played it safe at the end, making par on the last hole for a 1-under 69 that was meaningful in so many ways. It made him the 16th player to be No. 1 in the world, and the second-youngest behind Woods.
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