ANCASTER, Ontario — Call it the zone, call it the flow. Rory McIlroy is familiar with the feeling that golf is easy, that he can swing freely and nothing bad will happen.

He first felt it at age 16 when he shot 61 at Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland, which will host this year’s British Open. He experienced it during runaway victories at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. And he savored it again Sunday en route to another 61, this one giving him a seven-shot victory in the Canadian Open.

“I think when you play, you get into stretches like this, you do get into some sort of flow, that flow state or in the zone or whatever anyone wants to call it. I definitely got into that a little bit today at the start of the back nine. It was the same that day at Portrush all those years ago,” McIlroy said. “It’s almost like you’re out of your own body and looking at yourself play. For some times today, that’s how it felt. So if I could bottle that feeling and take it with me week to week, I would. Sort of comes and goes.”

McIlroy added the Canadian Open to his schedule for the first time, largely because it was moved to the week before the U.S. Open. He turned the major-championship tuneup into a career highlight, becoming the sixth player to win national championships in the U.S., Britain and Canada. Lee Trevino (1971) and Tiger Woods (2000) are the only players to win all three in the same season, something McIlroy could do this year with victories next week at Pebble Beach and at Royal Portrush in July.

It was McIlroy’s fifth win in a national open, following the U.S. Open (2011), Australian Open (2013), British Open (2014) and Irish Open (2016). McIlroy also counts the Hong Kong Open (2011) as part of his national-championship tally.

“Some of the greats of the game have won this trophy. For me to put my name on it is something I’m very proud of,” McIlroy said. “Part of the reason for playing here was I wanted my game to be in good shape for Pebble Beach, but (it) doesn’t mean this tournament doesn’t mean anything.”

Starting the day in a three-way tie for the lead, McIlroy ended any suspense about who would emerge as the champion with five birdies in his first seven holes, none from longer than 8 feet.

The only question on the back nine was whether McIlroy would shoot the 11th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. He made four straight birdies from Nos. 11-14, and a bogey on the par-3 16th stalled him only momentarily. He followed with a 7-iron from 196 yards to 2½ feet for eagle on the par-5 17th to get to 10 under at par-70 Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

But he missed the green on the par-4 18th, and his bunker shot went long. He tapped in for bogey to finish at a tournament-record 22-under 258. The 61 equaled the low round of McIlroy’s PGA Tour career.

McIlroy was five shots off the lead entering the weekend but shot 64 on Saturday before finding another gear on Sunday.

“I think what I’m proudest of is still playing with that freedom today going out being tied for the lead, just putting my foot down and really making this tournament mine,” McIlroy said. “I think by the time I got to the 14th tee, I wasn’t really thinking of winning the tournament. I was thinking of trying to shoot 59. I had to reassess my goals a little bit in the middle of that back nine.”

He settled for his 16th PGA Tour victory and 25th win worldwide, and the fourth by at least seven shots.

Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson tied for second at 15 under.

Adam Hadwin, seeking to become the first Canadian winner of the event since 1954, closed with a 70 and finished sixth, 10 shots back. His consolation prize was a spot in the British Open.

Graeme McDowell also earned his place in the British Open. The Portrush native guaranteed a tee time in his hometown by holing a hard-breaking 29-footer for par on the par-4 18th to shoot 68 and finish in a tie for eighth.

“It had 12 feet of break on it. It was a ridiculously tough putt to make,” McDowell said. “Just fancied it, I saw it, liked the way it looked, and when I saw it go in it was a huge relief.”

This year’s Open will be the first in Northern Ireland since its only previous visit to Royal Portrush in 1951.

LPGA: Lexi Thompson made a 20-foot putt for eagle on the 18th hole to complete a late comeback and win the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, New Jersey.

Trailing Jeongeun Lee6 by two strokes after the 15th hole, Thompson finished birdie-par-eagle to shoot a 4-under 67 and finish the 54-hole event at 12-under 201. It was her 11th career LPGA Tour victory, and extended her streak to seven years with at least one win on the tour.

Lee6, the champion of last week’s U.S. Women’s Open who was playing two groups behind Thompson, lost her lead with three consecutive bogeys from Nos. 13 through 15 before bouncing back with a birdie at No. 16 to tie Thompson.

However, needing an eagle on 18 to force a playoff after reaching the green in two, she missed a 45-foot putt and settled for birdie.

Ally McDonald was third, three shots back.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Scott McCarron made three birdies on the back nine to pull away for a 5-under 67 and a three-shot victory in the MasterCard Japan Championship in Chiba, Japan.

McCarron, finished at 13-under 203 as he won for the third time this year.

Billy Andrade (68) and Kirk Triplett (69) tied for second.