McIlroy struggled the last few weeks for the PGA, then became its symbol: Winning is hard. Scottie’s a great guy!

The PGA Tour already knows a new champion for this season, a thirty-three-year-old player from Northern Ireland. Rory McIlroy has had a very busy season. He managed to triumph in the FedEx Cup playoffs despite being busy off the golf course in recent months.

McIlroy has become one of the biggest faces on the PGA Tour recently. But not because he has been on the circuit since 2010, or because he has already won four majors and, at this point, three FedEx Cup victories.

The golf world was rocked earlier this year by the arrival of a new competitive event called LIV Golf. With a desire to conquer the golfing world, it offers players financial earnings they have never dreamed of before. Many of the world’s aces such as Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and more recently Cameron Smith have given the nod to the generous offer.

But Rory McIlroy was not tempted by the competition, subsidised by the Saudi Arabian Public Fund. Moreover, he was one of the few to back the PGA Tour on principle. He decided to fight for it.

In addition, he and Tiger Woods recently introduced a new event called TMRW to the world, which was followed two days later by the creation of the new TGL Golf competition, which is due to see the light of day in its full glory in January 2024.

Woods and McIlroy’s plan has been criticized by some people as it could be a conflict of interest. In other words, the two famous golfers are the ones who invented the competition, but they are also the first confirmed participants who can earn generous rewards from it.

At the same time, however, the project has been presented to go side by side in partnership with the PGA Tour. Equally, this is one of the new innovations designed to prevent further player flight towards LIV Golf. Many fans, however, point to their new business as the biggest reason why both have come out so strongly against the LIV.

Recall that Tiger Woods turned down a signing bonus of between $700 million and $800 million from a competitor, far more than he ever earned in his PGA Tour career.

Both he and McIlroy, however, have repeatedly stated that golf is by no means primarily about money. Both acknowledge the honor and tradition of the PGA Tour that helped them become the most celebrated players in modern history. They are practically carrying on the legacy left by the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

ESCAPE FROM REALITY AS A PATH TO VICTORY

Unlike Woods, who has been sporadic on the course since his car crash last year, McIlroy is still fighting for big wins on Tour. And he has achieved one of them at a time when there is a lot of buzz around him and his beloved game.

McIlroy himself said after his win in Atlanta that the last few months have been very difficult indeed. And that virtually only the play on the course has been able to lead him to escape reality, as the whole of golf has been experiencing very tough times of late.

“It’sbeen a tumultuous time for the world of men’s professional golf. I was right in the middle of it,” Rory mentioned to golf.com after his big win.

But none of that fazed the Irish phenom. If he has said anything in recent weeks about his pride in the PGA Tour and its history, he proved it with his actions on the course at the Tour Championship on Sunday. He didn’t fall to his knees as he was six shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler at the start of the final round.

He showed his character as a champion after his victory. Instead of exuberantly jumping into the sky, he just raised his arms symbolically, then aimed it in the direction of his opponent Scheffler’s father. He should have told him after the big triumph that he was sorry for his victory, because Scottie deserved it too for his fantastic season this year.

He continued his words of appreciation after the Tour Championship: “I feel Scottie deserved at least half of that win today. I feel a bit bad that I pushed him to the loser’s seat. He’s agreat player and an even better guy,” the fresh FedEx Cup winner proved his character.

“Everybody talks about how fun it is to win. But it’s not,” said former player and golf analyst Paul Azinger of NBC. “It’s thehardest thing in the world, next to being fun,” he added of McIlroy.

Source: PGA Tour, golf.com