McIlroy warms up for PGA Championship with runaway Wells Fargo victory

Rory McIlroy set aside the distractions of board politics and PIF negotiations with a thumping five-stroke victory at the Wells Fargo Championship over Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday headed into the year’s second major, the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, this week.

It was the 35-year-old’s 26th career PGA Tour victory and a fourth Wells Fargo Championship title in all that came on the back of a stunning 7 under par 65 that included a closing double bogey at Quail Hollow as the challenge from Schauffele (71), the leader over the first three days, faded for the $3.6 million winner’s cheque.

McIlroy produced a knockout run with two eagles and four birdies over an eight-hole stretch to seal his second win of the season with a 17 under 268 tournament total (67-68-67-65) after having teamed up with Ireland’s Shane Lowry to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans two weeks back, the PGA Tour said.

The 35-year-old Northern Irishman, who incidentally won his last major at the Valhalla Golf Club 10 years ago, said later, “You know, that was a big moment on 7. I three-putted, Xander made an eagle. Xander was inside me on 8, I knew I really needed to hole that putt just to try to stay or keep up with him.

“He missed his, I birdied mine and then I just went on a run that for whatever reason I'm able to go on at this golf course. Charlotte in general has been really good to me over my career and this is just another great day to sort of add to all the rest of them.”

For the unfortunate Schauffele (64-67-70-71), it was a 14th runner-up finish from 174t career starts, and the season’s second after the Players Championship in mid-March. He dropped to two-from-eight in converting penultimate day leads or co-leads into victory but brought up his 19th top-10 finish since the start of the 2022-23 season, second only to world number one Scottie Scheffler (26).

Behind the leading duo, Korea’s Byeong Hun An posted a solo third-place finish with a stellar final round of 5-under 66, good preparation for a strong showing at the PGA Championship. The 32-year-old hit an impressive seven birdies against two dropped shots for his career best total in the $20 million tournament but he finished eight shots back of the runaway McIlroy,

“My game felt good all week,” said An later. “Hit it pretty solid, I drove the ball really well and that's what you need on this golf course. Putted pretty decent this week, putted actually pretty good, I saved a lot of pars out there. It wasn't playing easy as the scores (show). I mean, apart from Rory's, it's a pretty tough swing out there.

“But I'm very happy with my game. I had a shaky start, but I grinded my way through and I made some birdies on the way in,” added the 32-year-old, who totalled 9 under for the week for his fifth top-10 of the season, and second in successive weeks after a T4 in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last week.

An is also a strong contender to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games in August and make the International Team for the Presidents Cup against the US in September.

With An’s putting on point where he ranked first in strokes gained and picked up nearly eight strokes against the field, he is feeling upbeat. “Every week, I feel like my game's there, just need some looks here and there, make some putts. But putting part definitely showed up this week. I like playing these type of golf courses. It's pretty tough, you've got to grind your way through and you can't really bail out on any of the shots. I had a good finish last week, I've been playing well this season and this third place definitely helps.”

Fellow Korean Sunjgae Im, who started Sunday four shots off the lead, endured a tough front nine 39 before salvaging his day with birdies to finish tied fourth alongside Australian Jason Day. It was his second top-10 of the season after a tied fifth at the season-opening The Sentry in Hawaii, while Si Woo Kim closed with a 70 for a share of 16th place and Joohyung Kim came home in 76 to settle for T47.