Rory McIlroy completed the best weekend comeback of his career to successfully defend his title and win a record fourth Dubai Desert Classic.
The Northern Irishman’s previous biggest recovery with two rounds to go was from five shots back at the 2015 BMW PGA Championship but having begun round three 10 adrift he closed out a one-stroke victory at the Emirates Golf Club.
Saturday’s 63 catapulted him into contention but there were far fewer fireworks in his final round and, while McIlroy escaped with some loose shots, rivals Cameron Young and Adrian Meronk were unable to exert any meaningful pressure.
“If the scores on the weekend had been flipped and I shot 70, 63, I’d probably be like ‘Yeah, that was amazing’,” said McIlroy, who finished 14 under.
“The course definitely played a little trickier at the weekend. After I finished on Friday I thought if I shot two 67s over the weekend I would have a decent chance to win, and if that had been the case I would have tied on 13 under.
“I wasn’t too far away with the prediction and I went one better than that and ended up winning the tournament.”
McIlroy, who now has a victory and a second place in his first two starts of the season, added: “I played that front nine so well that I didn’t really have to do anything that special on the back nine just to get the thing won.
“I got away with a couple of things: I didn’t make birdie on 10 and then I made the bogey on 13. Luckily for me the guys around me didn’t make a ton of birdies on the way in.
“I knew I always had one or two shots to play with so I think that gave me a certain level of comfort.”
McIlroy began the day two shots behind leader Young but his birdie after driving the 351-yard second, combined with the American’s bogeys at four and six, saw the advantage swing a stroke in the Northern Irishman’s favour.
And with Young not recording his first birdie until the 10th, Meronk emerged as his chief challenger – briefly sharing the lead before chipping across the seventh green and into the water for a double-bogey five.
McIlroy extended his lead to three at the turn with successive birdies including from 31 feet on the eighth.
His only real moment of concern came with a first bogey in 38 holes at the 13th, where he could not escape from the waste area at the first attempt after taking an aggressive line and going too far left.
Meronk’s third birdie since the turn put him within one but then he bogeyed the 16th while McIlroy brilliantly salvaged par from the left waste area, meaning two closing pars were enough to secure his landmark win.
McIlroy’s positive start to 2024 will give him renewed optimism he can break his nine-year major drought, with the chance to complete a career Grand Slam first up at the Masters in April.
“Augusta is still a long way away in golfing terms. A lot can change in two and a half months,” he said.
“But it’s always nice nice to feel like you’re playing well going into it.
“I’ve still got some big events to come but until that first or second week in April at least a part of my mind is going to be towards getting myself absolutely ready for there.”
PGA Championship: Scheffler unsure if arrest a factor after 'hectic' weekend
Scottie Scheffler is unsure whether his arrest on Friday was a factor after a disappointing Saturday led to him finishing tied for eighth at a "hectic" PGA Championship.
On Friday, world number one Scheffler was arrested outside Valhalla Golf Club ahead of his second round.
It subsequently emerged that he faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
Scheffler shot a five-under 66 in the delayed second round, one stroke better than his first round, but a two-over 73 on Saturday all but ended his hopes of back-to-back major wins.
Xander Schauffele ultimately claimed his first major title at 21 under, eight shots ahead of Scheffler.
Speaking after Sunday's final round, in which a run of seven birdies in 10 holes helped him card a 65, Scheffler said he was proud of the way he finished the event.
"I think 'hectic' would probably be a good description," Scheffler said. "I'm fairly tired, definitely a lot more tired than I have been finishing some other tournaments.
"I'm proud of today how we went out there and fought. I got off to a slow start and I was able to get some momentum and post a good round.
"Yesterday obviously was quite frustrating and a bit of a different day, but overall proud of how I fought this week. Was fortunate to be out here competing, doing what I love."
Asked whether his arrest had an impact on his performance, Scheffler said: "It's hard to tell. I think I would attribute it mostly to a bad day.
"I think when you come out here to compete, you're doing what you can throughout the course of the round to post a score and I wasn't able to get that done yesterday.
"Did I feel like myself? Absolutely not. Was my warm-up the way it usually is and the distractions the way they normally are? Absolutely not.
"I got arrested Friday morning and I showed up here and played a good round of golf. So I've been good throughout my career at leaving the off-course distractions at home and keeping a pretty quiet personal life.
"I'm not going to sit here and say that I played poorly yesterday because of what happened on Friday. I just had a bad day out on the course and was proud of how I came out here and bounced back today."
PGA Championship: McIlroy 'feeling good' about game despite wait for elusive fifth major
Rory McIlroy feels positive about his game despite a continued wait to win an elusive fifth major championship.
Xander Schauffele secured a maiden major victory by winning the PGA Championship at Valhalla, which was the venue for McIlroy's last major triumph in 2014.
McIlroy finished in a tie for 12th place and has often come close, recording 20 top-10 finishes in majors since winning his last, which is more than any other player during that span.
He had won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship coming into the second major of 2024 and, despite falling short, still feels things are trending in the right direction with the U.S. Open and The Open Championship to come this year.
Asked about the state of his game, McIlroy said: "I'm feeling good about that.
"I have been on a big stretch of golf here. I think this was my sixth event in seven weeks. I've got a week off and then I'm playing another four in a row.
"I'm feeling good about my game. I feel like things are sort of clicking more, especially after the win in New Orleans.
"Obviously played well last week in Charlotte. Have a week here to sort of reset and try to get going again."
McIlroy was in contention for glory after carding a five-under 66 on the first day at Valhalla.
But he ultimately finished nine strokes behind Schauffele, as a difficult 71 on day two was followed up with creditable scores of 68 and 67 over the weekend’s play.
McIlroy looked poised for another top-10 finish before finding the water twice on Sunday, but still emerged at four under for the day with seven birdies and three bogeys in an up-and-down final round.
He continued: "Obviously I started the week well, and then I've obviously played decent over the weekend.
"That six-hole stretch on the back nine [on Saturday], not being able to hole any putts, I'll probably rue that.
"Then the 71 on Friday, as well, was obviously not what I was looking for. Obviously put myself too far back.
"Overall I am playing solid, game is in good shape, and I've got a week off and then another busy stretch coming up."
PGA Championship: Schauffele 'captured the moment' with maiden major victory
Xander Schauffele says that he captured the moment during his PGA Championship win after handling the big moments better than he had in the past.
Schauffele won his maiden major victory with a dramatic one-shot win at Valhalla, Kentucky on Sunday, making history as he finished 21 under, the lowest 72-hole score in men’s major history.
He held off late challenges from Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland to secure the Wanamaker Trophy after carding a 65 on the final day.
"It feels amazing," Schauffele told reporters after his win.
"Winning, I said it earlier, is a result. This is awesome, it's super sweet, but when I break it down, I'm really proud of how I handled certain moments on the course today, different from the past."
"I was pretty nervous. I don't really remember it [the birdie putt] lipping in, I just heard everyone roaring and I looked up to the sky in relief.
"I really did not want to go into a play-off with Bryson. Going up 18 with his length, it's not something that I was going to have a whole lot of fun with.
"I was able to capture that moment there... I just kept telling myself I need to earn this, earn this and be in the moment, and I was able to do that."
Despite lifting the trophy, Schauffele believes that he still has work to do to reach Scottie Scheffler.
The world number one had a turbulent week, which saw him arrested ahead of the second round on Friday, and he finished joint-eighth.
"All of us are climbing this massive mountain and at the top of the mountain is Scottie Scheffler," Schauffele added. "I won this today, but I'm still not that close to Scottie Scheffler in the big scheme of things.
"I got one good hook up there in the mountain up on that cliff, and I'm still climbing. I might have a beer up there on that side of the hill there and enjoy this, but it's not that hard to chase when someone is so far ahead of you."
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