Rory McIlroy made the most of his weekend in the Wells Fargo tournament at TPC Potomac in Maryland: having survived the midway cut on the mark, the world number seven clicked into gear to make a charge in his attempt to retain his title, only to come up just short.
A third round 68 was followed by a closing 68 (bogeying the last) which ultimately left McIlroy - playing in his first tournament since finishing runner-up in last month's Masters - on a total of four-under-par 276, in fifth, but again ruing a case of what might have been.
Max Homa claimed his second PGA Tour title of the season as he finished two shots clear of the field to win.
Homa (31) began the final round in second place but overhauled a two-shot deficit with a two-under 68 as overnight leader Keegan Bradley finished the round on two-over. Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick's three-under final-round 67 was not enough to catch Homa, but he finished tied for second alongside Bradley and Cameron Young, who fired a 66.
McIlroy made his move on the front nine with birdies on the fifth and eighth holes - from nine feet and 12 feet respectively - and added another birdie on the Par 5 10th but hit a speed bump with a three-putt bogey on the 11th that halted his momentum. He picked up another birdie on the 14th but his putter got cold on the inward run and his quest for a successful defence had gone by the time he suffered a bogey on the 18th.
“I played well, had my chances. I played the last eight holes in one over, which whenever you give yourself a chance and got within like three (shots), is obviously not the way you want to finish. Some of those pin positions on the back nine were tricky and tough to get close to. Overall, it’s been a good weekend, a decent week, something to build on going into the PGA,” said McIlroy, who is not playing in this coming week’s Byron Nelson Classic but instead taking a week off at home in Florida, adding:
“I’m playing good, playing really good. No complaints with the game. Everything feels pretty solid, just a couple things here and there coming down the stretch, a couple missed putts, but really apart from that I feel like the game’s in good shape.
“I’m really happy with where my game is. I think just another week of practicing and playing (will help heading into the PGA).”
McIlroy’s upcoming schedule will see him play the US PGA and then take a week off before playing four tournaments in a row, the Memorial, the Canadian Open, the US Open and the Travelers.
Pádraig Harrington’s decision to focus on the Champions Tour in the run-up to the upcoming US PGA Championship proved to be a wise one, as the Dubliner produced a closing round of 64 in the 54-holes Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Duluth in the Atlanta suburbs for a total of 10-under-par 278.
Having turned in two-under 34 in the final round, Harrington charged up the leaderboard with a stunning backward run that saw him reel off five successive birdies from the 10th to the 14th and he added another on the 17th but failed to birdie the Par 5 closing hole after his approach found a greenside bunker and he had to settle for a closing par, one shot shy of Steve Flesch.
On the Ladies European Tour, Olivia Mehaffey, in her rookie season, continued her strong start to the season with a ninth place finish in the Madrid Ladies Open. The Northern Irishwoman shot a closing 67 for a total of 12-under-par 276 in a tournament won by 24-year-old Spaniard Ana Palaez in her very first LET event as a professional, playing on a sponsor's invitation.
