The week belonged to Rory McIlroy at Pebble Beach.
On the first weekend without football since August, the PGA Tour needed its second Signature Event of the season, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, to deliver a packed leaderboard on an iconic course.
As always, eyes turned to McIlroy — and the returning Scottie Scheffler — to provide the weekend the tour needed.
McIlroy has a tepid history at Pebble Beach, but this week was a different story.
Aided by a new mindset and game plan, McIlroy tamed one of golf’s cathedrals en route to a two-shot victory over Shane Lowry and his 27th career PGA Tour win.
With the win, McIlroy became the first player since Phil Mickelson to win 27 times on the PGA Tour. He also became the third player in the last 30 years to have 27 PGA Tour wins and four or more majors, joining Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
“Getting to that number is really cool,” McIlroy said after his win Sunday. “I think for me it’s even more meaningful that I don’t really play a full, full schedule on the PGA TOUR either. I spend my time between here and the DP World Tour. I think I’m up over 40 or 40 worldwide wins, which is a pretty cool number. Yeah, absolutely, 27 is a cool number on the PGA TOUR. Hopefully, I keep adding to that and break a 30 barrier at some point this year and keep going from there.”
For McIlroy, finally etching his name into history in one of golf’s cathedrals made win no. 27 all the more special.
“There’s some venues in our game that just mean a little bit more than others, and that’s probably to do with the history and the people that have won on those courses and what those people have meant to the game of golf,” McIlroy said. “I’ve had a few close calls at St. Andrews, which is another one of those important venues in our game. Augusta National being another one, too. So to be able to get a win on one of those iconic venues is awesome.”
McIlroy leaves Pebble Beach with another trophy and a meaningful win at one of the game’s hollowed grounds.
He also heads forward with a plan to make sure his win along the picturesque shores of Carmel is just the beginning.
“I told [caddie Harry Diamond] coming up the last, start how you mean to go on,” McIlroy told CBS’s Amanda Ballionis after his win.
No one knows what the future holds for McIlroy, but neither he nor the Tour could have envisioned a better start.
