RORY MCILROY put the distraction of a tumultuous week in his private life to the side to stage a dramatic come from behind victory at the 2014 BMW PGA Championship in England on the weekend.
McIlroy made up a seven shot deficit to win the European Tour flagship event by a stroke after a final round 66 at the Wentworth golf club in Surrey.
The 25 year old Northern Irishman forecast before the championship he would be working on focussing on his game when inside the ropes rather than his split with fiancée Caroline Wozniacki.
“It’s been 18 months since I won on The European Tour and to win the flagship event, I could not have asked for any more,” said McIlroy, whose last win anywhere was at the 2013 Australian Open at Royal Sydney.
The win will take McIlroy to world No.6 in the world golf rankings behind the just reaffirmed Adam Scott in the top position.
Earlier Henrik Stenson (70) threw out a challenge to Scott’s No.1 ranking by finishing tied for seventh. That meant Scott, playing across the Atlantic in Texas, needed to finish at least in the top 13 to keep his place. The Aussie ended up doing that in spades.
McIlroy, who finished the tournament on 14-under, will no doubt gain great momentum from the win as he heads to the US Open in a couple of weeks. He has been knocked not just by private life issues, but with legal action involving his former management team and with his long struggle back to form after changing his equipment sponsor.
“My caddie JP (Fitzgerald) set me the target of 15 under today. I didn’t quite get there but 14 under was enough. I really wanted to win before going into the second Major of the season (the US Open from June 12-15) and I could not have asked for a better way to prepare,” he said.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry (68) finished second on 13-under with Thomas Bjorn (75) – probably not too happy after starting the final round with a five stroke lead – tied for third on 12-under with Luke Donald (70), another international golfer along with McIlroy and now Scott to have held the World No.1 ranking.
Richard Green followed up his T2 finish at the Spanish Open last week with a 3-under 69 to be tied for 16th on 6-under. Brett Rumford missed the cut.
BMW PGA Championship Leaderboard