Tag: 2021 CJ Cup

CJ Cup: No moral victory for Rickie Fowler but ‘big step in the right direction’

While Fowler failed to end his victory drought, the T-3 at the CJ Cup marked his first top-10 finish since the PGA Championship in May.

Kanye West once sang that “moral victories are for minor league coaches.” Well, that may be true, but Rickie Fowler shouldn’t be hanging his head despite squandering a two-stroke 54-hole lead at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas.

“It felt good to finally hit the golf ball properly, at least most of the time, for 72 holes,” he said. “A lot of quality shots, a lot of good swings this week.”

Fowler came home in 1-under 71 on Sunday at the Summit Club to finished tied for third with Keith Mitchell, three strokes behind Rory McIlroy, who notched his 20th PGA Tour title, and two behind Collin Morikawa, who shot a scorching 62.

For Fowler, who hasn’t won since the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2019, it was a big step in the right direction. Fowler turns 33 on December 13 and has been open about his struggles, which have seen him fall from No. 8 in the world to No. 128 entering this week. He needed a sponsor invite to play in the CJ Cup and has his work cut out to qualify for World Golf Championships, the Players Championship and the Masters in the first quarter of the new year.

The good news is that one week after missing the cut in his season debut at the Shriners Children’s Open last week, Fowler was dealing with a full deck in Vegas. He hit all 18 greens in regulation on Saturday, just the third time in his PGA Tour career that he’s done so, en route to shooting 63.

Fowler ranked first for the week in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and SG: Tee to Green and tied for second in driving accuracy. What let him down, especially on Sunday, was his putter. Fowler ranked 51st for the week in SG: putting, and lost 2.675 strokes with his short stick in the final round. That ranked 73rd in the field, which included two three putts at Nos. 6 and 10. The first of them followed tugging his second shot at the par-5 sixth hole into a penalty area and led to a double bogey. It was a three-stroke swing when McIlroy made birdie as Fowler went from leading by two to trailing by one. He never regained the lead.

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“Struggled a bit on the greens just with feel and speed,” Fowler said.

While Fowler failed to end his victory drought – he’s converted just two of nine 54-hole leads for his career – the T-3 marked his first top-10 finish since the PGA Championship in May and best result since a T-4 at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship.

Fowler and his wife, Allison, celebrated their first anniversary last Tuesday and their first child is due Nov. 30. Fowler is off to Japan for the Zozo Championship next week and to try to build on this momentum.

“It’s been a long journey,” he said. “This is a big step in the right direction with where we’ve been in the last two years.”

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How much money each PGA Tour player earned at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas

It pays to play well on the PGA Tour, folks. Just ask Rory McIlroy.

It pays to play well on the PGA Tour, folks. Especially in the no-cut events. Just ask this week’s winner, Rory McIlroy.

The 32-year-old won for the 20th time on Tour Sunday, shooting a 6-under 66 in the final round to win the 2021 CJ Cup held at The Summit Club in Las Vegas. McIlroy made an eagle on the par-4 14th to reach 25 under for the tournament, where he won by one over Summit member Collin Morikawa. McIlroy earned $1,755,000 while Morikawa will take home $1,053,000.

Check out how much money each player won this week at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas.

CJ Cup: Winner’s bag

Prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Rory McIlroy -25 $1,755,000
2 Collin Morikawa -24 $1,053,000
T3 Keith Mitchell -22 $565,500
T3 Rickie Fowler -22 $565,500
T5 Talor Gooch -21 $342,469
T5 Aaron Wise -21 $342,469
T5 Sam Burns -21 $342,469
T5 Adam Scott -21 $342,469
T9 Sungjae Im -20 $243,750
T9 Gary Woodland -20 $243,750
T9 Harry Higgs -20 $243,750
T9 Cameron Smith -20 $243,750
T9 Robert Streb -20 $243,750
T14 Webb Simpson -19 $169,065
T14 Jhonattan Vegas -19 $169,065
T14 Chris Kirk -19 $169,065
T14 Abraham Ancer -19 $169,065
T18 Emiliano Grillo -18 $116,331
T18 Xander Schauffele -18 $116,331
T18 Justin Thomas -18 $116,331
T18 Jordan Spieth -18 $116,331
T18 Viktor Hovland -18 $116,331
T18 Ian Poulter -18 $116,331
T18 Tyrrell Hatton -18 $116,331
T25 K.H. Lee -17 $70,506
T25 Sergio Garcia -17 $70,506
T25 Mackenzie Hughes -17 $70,506
T25 Paul Casey -17 $70,506
T25 Carlos Ortiz -17 $70,506
T25 Russell Henley -17 $70,506
T25 Erik van Rooyen -17 $70,506
T32 Tom Hoge -16 $51,610
T32 Keegan Bradley -16 $51,610
T32 Seonghyeon Kim -16 $51,610
T32 Hudson Swafford -16 $51,610
T32 Sung Kang -16 $51,610
T32 Harold Varner III -16 $51,610
T38 Marc Leishman -15 $37,635
T38 Scottie Scheffler -15 $37,635
T38 Louis Oosthuizen -15 $37,635
T38 Matt Jones -15 $37,635
T38 Brooks Koepka -15 $37,635
T38 Tommy Fleetwood -15 $37,635
T38 Maverick McNealy -15 $37,635
T45 Tony Finau -14 $27,008
T45 Dustin Johnson -14 $27,008
T45 Lucas Glover -14 $27,008
T45 Joaquin Niemann -14 $27,008
T49 Joohyung Kim -13 $21,723
T49 Kevin Streelman -13 $21,723
T49 Sebastián Muñoz -13 $21,723
T49 Kevin Na -13 $21,723
T49 Stewart Cink -13 $21,723
T54 Shane Lowry -12 $20,085
T54 Jason Kokrak -12 $20,085
T54 Kevin Kisner -12 $20,085
T57 Justin Rose -11 $19,598
T57 Minkyu Kim -11 $19,598
T59 Hideki Matsuyama -10 $19,013
T59 Cameron Tringale -10 $19,013
T59 Alex Noren -10 $19,013
T59 Byeong Hun An -10 $19,013
63 Rasmus Højgaard -9 $18,525
T64 Jason Day -8 $18,038
T64 Patton Kizzire -8 $18,038
T64 Cam Davis -8 $18,038
T64 Sanghun Shin -8 $18,038
T68 Branden Grace -7 $17,258
T68 Patrick Reed -7 $17,258
T68 Jaekyeong Lee -7 $17,258
T68 Charley Hoffman -7 $17,258
T72 Yoseop Seo -6 $16,575
T72 Brian Harman -6 $16,575
T72 Max Homa -6 $16,575
75 Hanbyeol Kim -4 $16,185
76 Si Woo Kim E $15,990
77 Charl Schwartzel 7 $15,795

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Rory McIlroy goes low to claim CJ Cup for 20th win on PGA Tour

McIlroy won for the 20th time in Tour on Sunday at a 6-under 6 in the final round.

LAS VEGAS – Rory McIlroy said the CJ Cup at The Summit provided a nice, gentle introduction to his season in America’s Playground, the limited field of 78 players, docile layout and no cut very appealing.

Turned out it served up a satisfying ending, too.

On a sun-splashed, windless Sunday in the desert 10 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, McIlroy held off Collin Morikawa and Rickie Fowler to win the par-busting shootout. With a loud eagle on the 13th to grab the lead he never relinquished, the four-time major winner shot a closing 6-under-par 66 to finish at 25 under and one shot clear of onrushing Morikawa and three clear of a rejuvenated Fowler.

Three weeks after being moved to tears on the final day of Europe’s crushing defeat to the U.S. in the Ryder Cup, McIlroy earned lifetime membership to the PGA Tour with his 20th Tour title. He needs to play 15 years on the Tour before the lifetime membership becomes active; he started his 13th this week.

Morikawa, who was 11 shots back after 36 holes and trailed by seven entering the final round, went out in 7-under 29 and finished with an eagle to shoot 62. The two-time major winner and a Summit member was 8 under through 11 holes begore cooling off until the final hole.

Fowler, the overnight leader by two shots, had his best finish since tying for second in the 2019 Honda Classic, which came one month after he won the most recent of his five PGA Tour titles at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Fowler only had three top-10s the past two seasons and said he is now back to thinking about winning instead of thinking about the process of getting back to his former ways. He upped his lead to three with a birdie on the first and led by three before making a double from the desert on the par-5 6th and then three-putting the 10th to fall behind.

Earlier in the week, McIlroy, who had fallen to No. 14 in the world heading into the CJ Cup, said when he plays his best, he’s the best player in the game. Well, he looked in full flight quite a bit this week at The Summit and seems more than capable of becoming No. 1 in the world once again.

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McIlroy, a winner earlier this year at the Wells Fargo Championship, got into contention with consecutive bogey-free rounds, shooting 67 in the second round and 62 in the third. It was the first time he recorded consecutive bogey-free rounds since 2019.

With little wind all week and the course offering little defense except for the surrounding desert, the players held a birdie and eagle festival and combined to average 68.5 per round for the week.

There were 18 scores of 65 or better, including two 61s and five 62s.

Keith Mitchell, who shot 62-64 to gain a five-shot lead through 54 holes, closed with a 67 to finish at 22 under alongside Fowler.

Four players finished at 21 under, including Adam Scott (69) and Talor Gooch, who holed out from 94 yards for eagle on the last to polish off a 62.

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Headliners Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott set up potential blockbuster for CJ Cup final round

Buckle in for an action-packed Sunday afternoon in the Sin City.

LAS VEGAS – Keith Mitchell was cruising along with nary a hint of worry on a beautiful bright Saturday in the desert, making the game look easy as he was clobbering the defenseless course at The Summit through 43 holes and threatening to turn the CJ Cup into a one-man show.

And then he wasn’t.

When Mitchell began reeling in the third round, a bunch of players pounced, including headliners like four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler.

Now, instead of a blowout, it’s shaping up to be a barnburner on Sunday.

Mitchell was four shots clear of the field, sitting at 20 under, when he hit tee shots into the desert on the eighth and ninth holes, the errant drives leading to two consecutive double bogeys. He went to the eighth tee four shots up, went to the 10th tee one shot down.

In front of him, Fowler, McIlroy and Scott were leading a stampede to the top of the leaderboard and now there are 13 players within four shots of the lead.

Fowler, who started the day seven shots back, made five consecutive birdies on the front nine and shot 9-under-par 63 to grab the lead at 21 under. McIlroy, who also made five consecutive birdies on the front nine, started the day nine shots out of the lead but shot 62 to move into second at 19 under and has not posted a bogey the past two rounds. Scott, who was 8 under on his last seven holes in the second round, shot 67 to move into a tie for third at 18 under.

Joining Scott at 18 under were Abraham Ancer (63) and Robert Streb (65), who shot 61 to grab the first-round lead. At 17 under was Tyrrell Hatton (67).

Mitchell isn’t out of it despite being the lone player among the leaders with an over-par round. After shooting 62-64, he shot 73 and is at 17 under.

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The last time Fowler led at the end of any round was in the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he won for the most recent of his five PGA Tour titles, one being the 2015 Players Championship.

Fowler, who has fallen to No. 128 in the world and has just three top-10s in the last two years, has weathered the lean times with his optimistic ways. After missing the cut last week in the Shriners Children’s Open, he visited his old coach, Butch Harmon, and got a stamp of approval on the things Fowler is working on with his current coach, John Tillery.

“After the front nine, especially with how far back I started, I felt good on the 10th tee. I felt the juices flowing again,” Fowler said. “I haven’t been in this position much the past two years and it’s good to be back.

“But today’s over. Tomorrow is a new day. It’s been a long drive. I have a lot of work to do. Tomorrow is going to be a shootout.”

After his birdie blitz on the front nine, McIlroy ended his day by hitting a 7-iron from 208 yards to 20 feet and making the eagle putt on the 18th. The former world No. 1, who has fallen to 14th, won the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this year. A victory Sunday would be his 20th on the PGA Tour, earning him lifetime membership as soon as he plays 15 years.

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“I think on a course like this you’re going to have stretches where you’re going to play good golf and hit good shots and maybe just not hole the putts,” McIlroy said. “I played an eight‑hole stretch yesterday in even par. It was nice to finish with a birdie last night.

“Then today I played a stretch of golf, played nine holes in 6 under and all of a sudden you feel a little better about yourself.  The big thing is I’ve played the last two days keeping it in the short stuff and I haven’t made any bogeys. That’s huge.

“I said to Harry (Diamond, his caddie) yesterday, I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf without a bogey and now I’ve played two rounds in a row, so that’s nice to see.”

And he can’t wait to see what transpires on Sunday.

“It’s an exciting day for me,” he said. “I’m working on a few things in my game not necessarily swing related, but more mental stuff, routine, visualization, things that I’ve done pretty well this week for three days. But it’s exciting to try to do those things when you’re under a little more pressure tomorrow and you’re trying to win a golf tournament. So I’m excited to see how that goes.”

Scott’s last victory came in the 2020 Genesis Invitational. He thinks the winning score come Sunday will be 27 under.

“If it’s not Rickie getting up there, Rory’s right behind,” Scott said. “It’s really there for the taking. And you can make a couple eagles with four good swings of the club, it’s all there for the taking out here. So one of these top players is going to shoot a great round tomorrow.”

Ancer, who played with McIlroy, shot 63. In the past two days, he’s needed just five strokes to finish his play on the 553-yard, par-5 14th. On Friday, he made an albatross there, on Saturday an eagle.

“I hit probably the best drive of the day, and then the same iron I hit yesterday,” said Ancer, who won his first PGA Toru title at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational earlier this year. “Tried to pick a good line because you’ve got to hit it over the desert a little bit. You have to flush it. If not, you can get in some trouble. Came out good, good line and we were just hoping to be somewhere close to the hole and ended up being around six feet.

“Happy to roll it in.”

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Adam Scott burns bright at end with four birdies, two eagles in seven holes, moves into contention at CJ Cup

Fortunes can turn quickly in Vegas. Sometimes to the good, more often to the bad. For Adam Scott, it was to the better.

LAS VEGAS – Fortunes can turn quickly in Las Vegas.

Sometimes to the good, more often to the bad.

For Adam Scott, it was to the better.

The 2013 Masters champion was moseying around The Summit Club during Friday’s second round of the CJ Cup, heading to the 12th tee after consecutive bogeys and seeing he was 13 shots behind leader Keith Mitchell.

Then the man from Down Under started to go way under par.

Over his last seven holes, Scott made four birdies and two eagles to suddenly jump up the scoreboard into a tie for second place. Scott finished with a 9-under 63 to move to 13 under, five shots behind leader Keith Mitchell.

Scott was sterling as he made birdies from 2 feet on 12, 5 feet on 13, 4 feet on 15 and nine feet on 17. His eagle on the par-5 14th came from three feet, his eagle on the par-5 18th from five. His lone non-circle hole came on the par-3 16th where he got up-and-down from a greenside bunker for par.

Scott is trying to win his 15th PGA Tour title and first since the 2020 Genesis Invitational.

“You can’t expect a finish like that, but I’m going to take it,” Scott said. “I hit a lot of shots close and that made light work with the putter. Put myself in contention. I mean, I’m a long way back still, but 36 holes to go, I like where I’m at, moving in the right direction. I’d love to have a nice solid day tomorrow.

“Hopefully that wasn’t all the wind in my sail.”

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Scott started sailing after making bogeys at 10 and 11 and falling well behind.

“Felt like I was playing in another tournament,” he said. “I needed to get something going.”

He got it going, indeed.

“I needed to just play aggressive and I went driver off the tee at 14, which is maybe unusual to say for a par‑5, but a lot of guys are not hitting driver. I just thought, well, if I want to have a chance at this tournament, I’ve got to probably hit one up there,” he said. “Hit an iron on the green close and make an eagle and that’s what I did. I hit a 6‑iron in and it rolled down to a couple of feet.

“Then on 18 I hit a poor drive actually, hung it out to the right in a bunker, but I had a good yardage and I had a good lie and I hit a 5‑iron, got it online and finished about five feet from the hole.

“I can handle those eagle putts.”

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One shot at the CJ Cup showed Jordan Spieth is Jordan Spieth again

Jordan Spieth’s shot to set up eagle at the par-5 sixth hole was the best shot of the 65 he took in the second round at the CJ Cup.

LAS VEGAS – Jordan Spieth stood in the middle of the fairway at the par-5 sixth hole in Friday’s second round of the CJ Cup at The Summit. He was 288 yards from the pin with the wind in his face, a small lake to the right of the green and nasty desert populated with loads of rocks to the left of the putting surface.

If he decided to go for the green in two and heeled it, the ball would wind up in the water. If he toed it, the ball would wind up in the desert.

Spieth pulled 3-wood from the bag.

Thwack.

“It was funny, after I hit the shot I walked over to Michael (Greller, his caddie) and I’m laughing at how I had no chance hitting that shot at this tournament last year if it we’re here,” Spieth said.

The ball never left the flagstick and wound up 14 feet away.

“So progress is made to step up and trust it into the wind,” Spieth said. “It was 280 yards into the breeze, you’re at altitude, but I needed to hit a striped 3‑wood. And it was a cool shot kind of for me personally because that’s one, especially with a 3‑wood into the wind, that I really struggled with.”

It was the best shot of the 65 he took in the second round. He made the 14-footer for eagle and added seven birdies to offset three bogeys. With rounds of 66-65. Spieth moved into a tie for second at 13 under through 36 holes, five shots behind pace-setter Keith Mitchell.

The 3-wood was the latest example of Spieth’s resurgence the past year. He had gone nearly four years since winning his 11th PGA Tour title and third major at the 2017 British Open. The former world No. 1 fell to 92nd in the world last January, his lowest rank since winning his first Tour title in 2013.

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Spieth kept grinding and turned matters around last season with 11 top-10s in 19 starts, including his 12th PGA Tour title coming in the Valero Texas Open. He had seven top-4s, including runner-up finishes in the British Open and Charles Schwab Challenge and tied for third in the Masters.

Making his season debut in the CJ Cup, however, Spieth didn’t think this week set up well for him. The course was soft, the wind nearly non-existent, the greens barely putting up a challenge. In other words, it was going to be a birdie-fest. Spieth prefers more of a slugfest.

But Spieth is in contention.

“I like wind, I like knowing where the wind is,” he said. “I’d rather play in 15 to 20 (mph) out here than light and variable. It’s just harder for me to commit. I just grew up in wind almost every day.

“I told Michael coming in, I said I don’t think this is the best setup for me, especially since I really haven’t practiced much at all. Took a week off and then just played a couple rounds the next week. So I was kind of coming in here being like, all right, let’s play one this fall, and this happens to be the one. And now I feel good about the progress since I’ve been here this week and the course could be for me if I want it to be, I guess, on the weekend.”

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With rounds of 62-64, Keith Mitchell grabs CJ Cup lead and is proving Rory McIlroy knows what he’s talking about

True to Rory McIlroy’s words, Keith Mitchell has played lights out this week.

LAS VEGAS – When speaking to the depth of talent in professional golf earlier this week, Rory McIlroy took his mind back to the final round of this year’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.

He was paired with Keith Mitchell in the final group, with Mitchell two shots ahead with 18 to play. McIlroy, who went on to win that day, knew right away he would have his hands full dealing with Mitchell.

“The talent is so deep that people wouldn’t maybe pick a Keith Mitchell to win a tournament at the start of a week, but you play with him in a final round on a Sunday, he stopped me in my tracks. I was like, he is a hell of a player,” McIlroy said. “He came out and he hits it in the left bunker on 1, hits an unbelievable 7‑iron to like 10 feet and holes the putt.

“And people don’t realize you could say that about 100 guys out there, depending on who you play with. I think that just sort of illustrates how deep the fields are.”

True to McIlroy’s words, Mitchell’s been a hell of a player this week.

A day after opening with a 10-under-par 62 in the first round of the CJ Cup at The Summit, Mitchell tacked on a 64 Friday to grab the 36-hole lead at 18 under. He is five shots clear of Jordan Spieth (66-65), Harry Higgs (64-67) and Seonghyeon Kim (68-63). In a group another shot back was Rickie Fowler (66-66).

Mitchell has made 17 birdies and an eagle his first two trips around the soft, windless course, with his only blemish on the card being a bogey on the par-3 11th on Friday when he missed the green.

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Mitchell, who tied a PGA Tour record earlier this year by making seven consecutive birdies to start the third round in the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota, was on pace to match or break Justin Thomas’ PGA Tour record for lowest total after 36 holes. Mitchell’s 126 total fell three shots short of Thomas, who began the 2017 Sony Open with rounds of 59-64.

“I spent a lot of time in the last few days leading up to this tournament working hard on my game and it’s showing,” said Mitchell, who is trying to win for the second time on the PGA Tour. “I’m very thankful for that. Just shows you that hard work pays off as long as you’re doing the right things. My putter’s definitely been nice, and my speed has been a lot better this week.

“If those two things stay through this weekend, hopefully I can keep hitting in some quality shots and capitalizing.”

Hearing the words of McIlroy also gave him some extra juice.

“Everything that Rory says always seems to be the right thing and he usually means it, which is rare these days. So when he gives you a compliment like that, it’s pretty deep,” Mitchell said. “I mean, it means a lot to me because he’s a superstar in our game and I’m not even close to that. So when he calls you out unannounced, it does mean a lot.

“A compliment from anybody out here is special but coming from him is huge.”

Mitchell’s lone PGA Tour title came in the 2019 Honda Classic when he birdied the last hole to beat Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler by one. He’s weathered through some lean times of late, with only five top-10s in his last 51 Tour starts. But his confidence has never been higher as he looks to win his second Tour title.

“It’s been hard, but I had a really good run with Rory at Wells Fargo. I thought I had that one. He made some incredible putts down the stretch and it was close. I don’t want to count that one as a win, but I count that as being in contention,” Mitchell said. “When you’re in contention like that, a lot of it comes down to the last few holes, getting lucky or making a putt or two. Hopefully those can fall in my cards this week as long as I can continue the play that I’m having because definitely (trying to win) the second one for me has seemed to be a lot harder.”

Mitchell started his fifth season on the PGA Tour by missing his first two cuts. But now he feels he’s ready to tackle a specific goal he formulated in the offseason.

“I felt like I’ve either had the game, the potential I should say, to play a lot better than I have on a consistent basis,” he said. “I just wanted to take this year and just try to be as consistent as possible because I felt like feast or famine was kind of my game the last four years and I wanted to be a little bit more consistent, a little bit more patient. Play like a Tour pro and not just like a young kid out there firing at flags. It’s a lot harder to do than I thought, but when your putter’s hot like it was the last couple days, it kind of just makes up for the rest.”

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Sizzling Robert Streb starts CJ Cup in record-tying fashion with five birdies and an eagle in first six holes

Appropriately, Streb went on a heater to start this week’s PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – Talk about a heater.

Robert Streb might have wanted to be sitting at a blackjack table on the Las Vegas Strip Thursday morning considering how hot he was running, but the emerald felt at the Summit worked out just fine for his blistering ways.

With no wind whistling about this sun-drenched desert layout, and his hot hand working off the tees, from the fairways and on the greens, Streb lit up the scoreboard with a record-tying start in the CJ Cup.

The two-time PGA Tour winner started birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie before missing a 13-footer for birdie on the par-3 seventh. He got up and down for par from just off the green on the eighth hole and two-putted for par from 26 feet on the ninth to make the turn with a 7-under 29.

He leads by three shots in the early going.

With his five birdies and an eagle, Streb joined Brandt Snedeker (first round of the 2007 Farmers Insurance Open) as the only two players to start a PGA Tour event 7 under through six holes in the ShotLink era.

Streb also made a run at Corey Pavin’s nine-hole PGA Tour record. Pavin shot 9-under 26 on the front nine in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Bank Championship.

He made birdie putts of 7, 6, 17, 4 and 3 feet and canned a 12-footer for eagle on the third hole. Streb, who won the 2015 McGladrey Classic and 2021 RSM Classic, didn’t miss a fairway in regulation and missed just one green in regulation on the front nine.

Streb’s lowest round on the PGA Tour is 63, which he has shot five times.

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Rory McIlroy learned something important about himself during emotional Ryder Cup

“I think when I play my best, I’m the best player in the world.”

LAS VEGAS – Rory McIlroy couldn’t hold back the tears.

After defeating Xander Schauffele in the leadoff singles match in the Ryder Cup last month, McIlroy looked at the scoreboard and saw mostly red flags and knew instantly Team USA was routing his European mates.

It was McIlroy’s second loss in the biennial tussle in six editions and he had an emotional explosion during an interview just after beating Schauffele, 3 and 2. It was the lone point McIlroy earned against three losses during the week. And through genuine, raw, tearful moments of agony, he talked about his love for his team and the event and how much the loss hurt him.

It was a telling interview.

“I don’t necessarily get that emotional about golf, so I guess in that way it surprised me. But as you know, it’s a very emotionally charged week,” McIlroy said Wednesday after his pro-am round for the CJ Cup at The Summit. “There were so many different thoughts and emotions. There was relief that I won a point, there was frustration that I didn’t get more out of myself and disappointment I didn’t do more for the team, so there was so many sort of different emotions sort of going through me there and it was all just a little overwhelming in a way.

“But I think it was a good thing for me. I think I realized a couple of things about myself that I hadn’t, or maybe I had known but I was maybe trying to keep down and not let them out. I was surprised at how emotional I got, but then after a little bit of reflection over the last couple of weeks, I realized why I did get that way.”

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Part of what he learned about himself during the outburst was to be true to himself. He’s often talked about the game not defining him, not being his top priority, that you win some and you lose some and you move on. The approach tempers the blow of defeat but can be a crutch.

“I think sometimes I give myself too easy of a time and I try to play it off with, you know, golf doesn’t define me and I’ve got balance in my life and I’m happy away from the course,” McIlroy said. “And that’s obviously very true, but if I’m honest, sometimes I sort of maybe use that as a way to lessen the blow if I don’t play good golf.”

McIlroy hasn’t played his best golf of late. In March, he fell out of the top-10 in the world rankings for the first time since 2018 and he’s currently No. 14. He hasn’t added to his four major championships since winning the 2014 PGA. He won the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this year for his 19th PGA Tour title, but he’s earned just three top-10s in 11 starts since.

But the competitive fire still burns inside McIlroy. He wants win No. 20 on the PGA Tour and the lifetime membership that comes with it. He wants major No. 5 and more. He wants to be No. 1 again.

“I think when I play my best, I’m the best player in the world,” he said. “Haven’t played like that for a while, though, but I don’t feel like I need to go that far back to whenever the pandemic hit, whatever it was, 18 months ago, I was the No. 1 player in the world.

“Obviously the last 18 months haven’t been what I’ve wanted them to be, but if you keep it in perspective, I’m not that far away. (Ranked 14th) is not the position I want to be in, but at the same time there’s so many other guys that are trying to do the same thing as I’m doing and I realize the competition gets tougher each and every year and you just have to try to not just keep up with that, but try to become better.”

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McIlroy said he sort of turned the corner a little bit at the end of the season and is looking forward to playing competitive golf again after a two-week break.

“It’s a nice, gentle introduction to the season, 70‑whatever players, no cut,” McIlroy said of the CJ Cup. “I feel like you’re going out there to compete and play and try to win, but at the same time you can maybe try a couple things out in your golf game that you’re maybe working on.

“So it’s a nice way to start the season.”

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Dustin Johnson begins season in Las Vegas at CJ Cup looking to become Dustin Johnson again

In his last six starts, Dustin Johnson had four top-10s, including a tie for eighth in the British Open.

LAS VEGAS – Dustin Johnson was having breakfast Wednesday ahead of his pro-am round for the CJ Cup when Rory McIlroy sat down next to him.

“Are you going to start in Maui like you usually do?” McIlroy asked him, referring to the year-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

“I’m not in,” Johnson replied.

McIlroy was stunned.

“I was like, ‘Oh, sorry,’” McIlroy said. “DJ’s the second-ranked player in the world and he didn’t win on Tour last year. It just shows you how tough it is (to win).”

McIlroy isn’t the only one stunned. Johnson was the best player on the planet by miles heading into 2021, having won the November Masters, the Tour Championship, the Northern Trust, the Travelers Championship and finishing runner-up in the PGA Championship, the BMW Championship and the Houston Open in a span of five months.

But aside from winning the Saudi International on the European Tour in February, Johnson struggled for most of 2021, missing four cuts and having four finishes north of 28th. He went 10 tournaments in one stretch and had just one top-10.

He had issues with his driving, his putting and his iron play.

Heading into his season debut this week at The Summit Club, Johnson has latched on to a glimmer of hope that came at the end of the 2020-21 season. In his last six starts, he had four top-10s, including a tie for eighth in the British Open, and then was 5-0-0 as Team USA stomped Europe in the Ryder Cup.

“The game’s starting to turn around,” he said. “Obviously kind of took the last couple weeks off, so trying to get back into the swing of things here this week.”

“I feel like for the most part my iron play wasn’t quite as strong as I would have liked it to be, so definitely work on that a lot this offseason. Then I can always drive it and putt it and wedge it better, so kind of work on everything, really.”

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While in many ways it was a lost year, Johnson won’t panic. Sure, the two-time major winner with 24 PGA Tour titles rarely sweats anything, but he knows he can return to his 2020 form.

He hasn’t set his schedule for the rest of 2021, but he’ll have plenty of time to evaluate the year and focus his attention on his game. Last year he tied for second in the Houston Open in November, so that could be an option for him to make another start this year – and another chance to win to get to Maui if he weren’t to win this week.

“To be a good player, you’ve got to be very well rounded,” Johnson said. “I’ll look at it and if there’s an area that I feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement, maybe I’ll focus more on that area, but you’ve still got to work on everything.”

Johnson will grind to get his game back in top order. In his own way of grinding, mind you. It’s worked in the past and Johnson is confident it will work again.

“That’s one good thing about the sport, is you kind of set your own schedule,” he said. “So if I’m on the range and I start to get bored, I just leave. Every day’s a little bit different. Some days I can practice and hit balls and go play for I guess with all of it total maybe six or seven hours and some days I might be at the course for half an hour.”

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