A blow equivalent to 190 million Swedish kronor.
When Rory McIlroy drilled the punch on the 18th hole, he won the FedEx Playoff on the PGA Tour — and earned a huge victory check.
– Above all, I believe in this tour, says the winner, in a sign against the players’ journey to the LIV Tour.
World number one Scottie Scheffler had a strong hold on winning the prestigious PGA Tour final and $18 million, which equals SEK 190 million.
The American led as many as six strokes heading into the last 18 holes at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club — but faltered early on. Three ghost on the first six holes while the main challenger, a Northern Irish Rory McIlroyto highlight their characteristics.
– First of all, I must say that Scotty is worth at least half of this day. McIlroy said he’s had a great season, and I almost felt some guilt for being able to cross the finish line before the trophy was within my reach.
“Believe in the round”
Rumors and reports of new moves swirled over the weekend about top players on the controversial LIV Tour, most notably British Open winner Cameron Smith, Harold Varner III, Mark Leishman and Anirban Lahiri said to be heading to the Saudi-funded tour.
However, McIlroy has remained loyal to the PGA Tour and was one of the drivers of the meeting last week that led to important changes for the Tour.
– I believe in golf as a sport. Above all, I believe in this tour. I believe in the players in this round. “This is the best place in the world to play golf, without a doubt, and I’ve played everywhere,” McIlroy said.
It all came about in a confrontation between McIlroy, Scheffler and South Korean Im Sung-Jae, with McIlroy gaining some sort of lead in the last two openings.
On hole 17, McIlroy sat in a slightly worse position on the green than Schaeffler. The Northern Irish came close to doing the beating, but missed by a narrow margin. However, McIlroy was lucky on his side when Schaeffler missed, who continued to have a rough day.
Before the 18th hole, McIlroy was in the lead at -21, one stroke ahead of Im Sung Jae and Scheffler.
The prize pool is not affected
There, McIlroy kept his nerves in check and eventually won by some kind of margin. And in doing so, he takes home a stunning victory check. Scheffler and Em don’t walk away from the showdown without a tie either, but they each take in $4.75 million (about 51 million kroner).
Schaeffler says making a living golfing is a privilege, and he’s not doing it for the money.
Money has never crossed my mind. I wanted to win the title of the season. I had a great year and wanted to finish it off with a win here, unfortunately I couldn’t, says Scheffler.
This is the third time the 33-year-old McIlroy has won a PGA Final.