Top-5 Moments of 2015-16 PGA Season: #3. The Tour Championship
With a few weeks until the PGA Tour returns, here’s a look back at 2015-16 season’s top moments.
As the PGA Tour takes a few weeks off and won’t return again until January, now seemed like the perfect time to look back at the season that just passed.
This season has given us so many thrilling tournaments, and with them many thrilling moments.
In the coming days and weeks, I will take a look back at the some of the top moments that have played out over this past season and just what made them so memorable.
Over the rest of December the countdown will reveal one of the best tournaments of the year. Today, I continue the countdown with No. 3.
# 3: Rory McIlroy’s Dramatic Tour Championship Win
Interestingly enough, one of the top moments of the year came in the final tournament of the season. The final round of the this year’s Tour Championship definitely kept viewers glued to the TV. Any time a tournament goes into a playoff it’s much watch golf but a tournament with bigger implications like this one makes it worthy of a spot on the top moments list.
With the final round of the Tour Championship nearing its conclusion, Rory McIlroy was in contention for the win but certainly had some work to do and needed some help from those above him on the leaderboard. As McIlroy approached the 16th hole, he found himself three shots off leader Kevin Chappell.
McIlroy, sitting at nine-under for tournament, had plans to quickly make up the deficit. On his second shot at the par-4 16th, he sent roars throughout the course with a hole out eagle, a shot that continually replays as one of the top shots of the entire season. The three stroke deficit was now just a one stroke deficit and it was all done with just two swings.
With the eagle just what he needed, McIlroy was able to finish off his round with a birdie to close out his final round with a six-under 64. That turned out to be enough to force a playoff that was every bit of a roller coaster as one might imagine.
McIlroy was facing off with two other golfers, Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell, with the chance for himself to capture the FedEx Cup and the $10 million check that goes with it. On the first hole of the playoff, it looked as though it was McIlroy’s tournament to lose. It turns out that it was in fact his to lose as a he reached the par-5 18th’s green in two shots with just six feet left. Making the six-footer would give him all the glory but a lip out miss turned out to mean the playoff was heading to a second hole. It would now be between him and Moore as Chappell was eliminated.
Just few moments later in the third playoff hole, McIlroy found himself on the opposite end of the spectrum. He now had a seven-footer for par just keep Moore from taking all the glory. This time however, McIlory didn’t miss, the playoff was headed for a fourth hole.
After all had seemed lost, Moore wasn’t done after he left a chip shot 15 feet short on the fourth playoff hole. He nailed the tough 15-footer for par, pumping his fist as the crowd roared. Meanwhile, McIlroy had gotten himself in position for a 15-foot birdie putt. This time, he made good by draining the putt.
Rory McIlroy had captured both the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup while the golf world finally took a breath after hours of thrilling golf.
Stay tuned for No. 2 on the countdown coming soon.
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