Rory McIlroy provided a reminder of why he is the number one-ranked golfer in the world as he overcame a three-shot deficit in the final round to win the Deutsche Bank Championship by one stroke at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts.
McIlroy: On top of the world
McIlroy beat South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen by just one stroke after a 67 in the final round gave him victory with a 20-under-par total of 264.
Oosthuizen had threatened with a late surge but it wasn't enough as he shot a final-round 71 to finish one shot clear of Tiger Woods.
Knowing that he needed a good start on Monday, McIlroy came flying out of the blocks to shoot three birdies in his first four holes, and even a bogey on the fifth could not dent his title run as Oosthuizen recorded a costly double-bogey.
The South African recovered and put himself within a stroke with birdies on the 13th and 15th, but after both players bogeyed the 17th, pars on the final hole gave the title to McIlroy.
"Delighted to get my fifth win on the PGA Tour, third win this year, second win in the last three events," said the 23-year-old.
"Today was great, going out with a three-shot deficit. I just wanted to get off to a good solid start and maybe put Louis under a little bit of pressure.
"I was able to do that playing the first holes three under, and we both made a couple of mistakes on the fifth hole, but he made a six to my five, so I was able to take advantage of that a little bit.
"I think the good start set me up for a solid back nine. There was a couple of shots on the back nine I... well, I won't take back now, but if I could have then, I would have.
"But I still managed to do enough, and as I said, delighted to get this win, delighted to go to number one in the FedEx Cup. It sets me up for a great next couple of weeks, so overall I'm just very pleased."
McIlroy's win put him top of the FedEx Cup standings and ensured he will have a shot at the $10 million prize at the Tour Championship in Atlanta later this month.
Woods confirmed that his game is on the rise once again with a final-round 66, which left him 18 under for the tournament, and four shots clear of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
"My game is starting to come around," said Woods. "I'm pleased with the progress I made this week and really pleased with the way I rolled it. I hit so many good putts all week long, so that's a positive."
Meanwhile Lee Westwood's final-round 68 gave him an eight-under total of 276, while Ernie Els and Luke Donald both finished poorly as their 70s left them five-under for the tournament.
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