A weekend to remember for Holywood Golf Club

Tom McKibbin

Rory McIlroy was tied for the lead with one round to go at The Memorial. McIlroy had 13 birdies in his first three rounds and started his final round on six under.

The Northern Irishman started his final round in good shape as he played the first four holes in one under.

Murfield Village proved to be a challenge all week and this started to get the better of McIlroy as he finished the front nine with three bogeys.

Two of his three bogeys on the front nine were on par 5s and professional golfers are very frustrated when they drop a shot on a par five due to their length especially with McIlroy as he is one of the longest hitters on tour.

McIlroy looks on were it went wrong especially on the front nine. “Those two bogeys on the par-5s on the front nine were unforced errors and once I was 1-over through 9”.

The four-time major champion also had bogeys on both the par three eight and 12th. “I hit both of those shots over the back of the green and it was really tough to get it up-and-down from both of those spots”.

McIlroy had three bogeys in a row on the back nine at 12th, 13th and 14th but signed for a final round of 75. McIlroy finished on three under in a tie for seventh and earned $75,000.

“I feel a lot more positive about things today than I was two weeks ago at Oak Hill”. McIlroy is in the field for this week’s RBC Canadian Open then heads to Los Angeles the following week for the US Open.

“I've got next week, get straight back on the horse again in Canada and try to take the learnings from this week and try to do a little bit better”.

McIlroy wasn’t the only Northern Ireland golfer to play well over the weekend as fellow Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin won his first tournament on the DP World Tour at the Porsche European Open.

McKibbin was one behind the lead going into the final round and took the lead as he played the front nine in three under. McKibbin made two bogeys on the back nine but also had two birdies to shoot a final round of three under to seal his first win on the DP World Tour.

McIlroy was delighted that McKibbin won his first event as a professional last weekend. “I was really happy for him”.

Shane Lowry also played in The Memorial and finished on even par in a tie for 16th. Seamus Power also made the cut at The Memorial but finished in a tie for 41st on four over.

Leona Maguire shot a final round of five under to finish in a tie for seventh at the Mizuho Americas Open. Finally, congratulations to Dubliner David Carey as he qualified on Sunday for this week’s Canadian Open on the PGA Tour.