Rory McIlroy wins the 2014 British Open Championship
By Mike Dyce
Rory McIlroy raced out to a huge lead in the British Open, finishing Saturday with a -16 and a fairly large lead going into the final round. It would take a final round melt down from McIlroy paired with a remarkable round from one of the challengers to cost him the 2014 British Open crown. Ultimately he hanged on to win, finishing the round -1 and -17 overall for the tournament.
Throughout the final round McIlroy was a bit all over the place, sitting at even par midway through the back nine. There was an interesting scene on the par-5 16th hole, three strokes ahead of second-place Sergio Garcia, when McIlroy had a fan ejected for heckling. The fan was making noise during his backswing, but McIlroy still hit a booming drive.
After hitting the ball though, McIlroy took his driver and pointed to the fan in the crowd and he was escorted away by security. Heckling had been an issue for McIlroy all day, and earlier in the round a heckler was yelling “Sergio is going to catch you” at McIlroy every shot. There is nothing to indicate that this is the same heckler, but given how specific McIlroy was pointing him out it might be.
By the end of the 16th hole, McIlroy appeared to finally be showing signs that he realized the British open was likely his.
The win at The Open gives McIlroy career on-course earnings of $31.4 million, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell.
For Sergio Garcia, it is another instance of coming up just short. Garcia had a big -6 final round to close the gap between him and McIlroy, but it wasn’t enough to catch him finishing two strokes back. In majors, according to Cork Gaines of Business Insider, Garcia has 10 top-5 finishes, six top-3 finishes, and finished as runner-up four different times. Garcia has never won a major though.
Rickie Fowler had a big -5 final-round to challenge McIlroy as well, but he wasn’t able to catch up either, finishing tied for second with Garcia.
For McIlroy, he joins Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three Majors by age of 25.
Full leaderboard (after the cut) from ESPN.com:
Leaderboard
| POS | START | CTRY | PLAYER | TO PAR | TODAY | THRU | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | TOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  | Rory McIlroy | -17 | -1 | F | 66 | 66 | 68 | 71 | 200 |
| T2 | 3 |  | Sergio Garcia | -15 | -6 | F | 68 | 70 | 69 | 66 | 273 |
| T2 | 2 |  | Rickie Fowler | -15 | -5 | F | 69 | 69 | 68 | 67 | 273 |
| 4 | 7 | | Jim Furyk | -13 | -7 | F | 68 | 71 | 71 | 65 | 275 |
| T5 | 12 |  | Marc Leishman | -12 | -7 | F | 69 | 72 | 70 | 65 | 276 |
| T5 | 7 | | Adam Scott | -12 | -6 | F | 68 | 73 | 69 | 66 | 276 |
| T7 | 7 |  | Charl Schwartzel | -11 | -5 | F | 71 | 67 | 72 | 67 | 277 |
| T7 | 6 |  | Edoardo Molinari | -11 | -4 | F | 68 | 73 | 68 | 68 | 277 |
| T9 | 23 |  | Shane Lowry | -10 | -7 | F | 68 | 75 | 70 | 65 | 278 |
| T9 | 12 | | Graeme McDowell | -10 | -5 | F | 74 | 69 | 68 | 67 | 278 |
| T9 | 5 |  | Victor Dubuisson | -10 | -2 | F | 74 | 66 | 68 | 70 | 278 |
| T12 | 12 | | Ryan Moore | -9 | -4 | F | 70 | 68 | 73 | 68 | 279 |
| T12 | 7 |  | Robert Karlsson | -9 | -3 | F | 69 | 71 | 70 | 69 | 279 |
| T12 | 3 | | Dustin Johnson | -9 | E | F | 71 | 65 | 71 | 72 | 279 |
| T15 | 23 | | Francesco Molinari | -8 | -5 | F | 68 | 70 | 75 | 67 | 280 |
| T15 | 19 |  | Stephen Gallacher | -8 | -4 | F | 70 | 72 | 70 | 68 | 280 |
| T15 | 19 |  | David Howell | -8 | -4 | F | 72 | 70 | 70 | 68 | 280 |
| 18 | 23 | | George Coetzee | -7 | -4 | F | 70 | 69 | 74 | 68 | 281 |
| T19 | 34 |  | Angel Cabrera | -6 | -5 | F | 76 | 69 | 70 | 67 | 282 |
| T19 | 23 | | Chris Kirk | -6 | -3 | F | 71 | 74 | 68 | 69 | 282 |
| T19 | 23 | | Keegan Bradley | -6 | -3 | F | 73 | 71 | 69 | 69 | 282 |
| T19 | 7 | | Matteo Manassero | -6 | E | F | 67 | 75 | 68 | 72 | 282 |
| T23 | 52 | | Chris Wood | -5 | -7 | F | 75 | 70 | 73 | 65 | 283 |
| T23 | 34 | | Phil Mickelson | -5 | -4 | F | 74 | 70 | 71 | 68 | 283 |
| T23 | 12 | | Justin Rose | -5 | E | F | 72 | 70 | 69 | 72 | 283 |
| T26 | 45 |  | Thomas Bjorn | -4 | -5 | F | 70 | 71 | 76 | 67 | 284 |
| T26 | 31 | | Ben Martin | -4 | -2 | F | 71 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 284 |
| T26 | 23 | | Brian Harman | -4 | -1 | F | 72 | 73 | 68 | 71 | 284 |
| T26 | 19 |  | Byeong-Hun An | -4 | E | F | 72 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 284 |
| T26 | 12 | | Jimmy Walker | -4 | +1 | F | 69 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 284 |
| T26 | 12 | | Darren Clarke | -4 | +1 | F | 72 | 72 | 67 | 73 | 284 |
| T32 | 38 | | D.A. Points | -3 | -3 | F | 75 | 69 | 72 | 69 | 285 |
| T32 | 38 | | Hunter Mahan | -3 | -3 | F | 71 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 285 |
| T32 | 31 |  | David Hearn | -3 | -1 | F | 70 | 73 | 71 | 71 | 285 |
| T32 | 23 | | Kristoffer Broberg | -3 | E | F | 70 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 285 |
| T36 | 31 | | Louis Oosthuizen | -2 | E | F | 70 | 68 | 76 | 72 | 286 |
| T36 | 23 | | Jordan Spieth | -2 | +1 | F | 71 | 75 | 67 | 73 | 286 |
| T36 | 19 | | Branden Grace | -2 | +2 | F | 71 | 72 | 69 | 74 | 286 |
| T39 | 63 | | Brendon Todd | -1 | -5 | F | 73 | 73 | 74 | 67 | 287 |
| T39 | 63 |  | Koumei Oda | -1 | -5 | F | 69 | 77 | 74 | 67 | 287 |
| T39 | 52 | | Henrik Stenson | -1 | -3 | F | 72 | 73 | 73 | 69 | 287 |
| T39 | 38 | | Hideki Matsuyama | -1 | -1 | F | 69 | 74 | 73 | 71 | 287 |
| T39 | 38 | | Gary Woodland | -1 | -1 | F | 75 | 69 | 72 | 71 | 287 |
| T39 | 38 |  | Thongchai Jaidee | -1 | -1 | F | 72 | 72 | 72 | 71 | 287 |
| T39 | 38 | | Kevin Stadler | -1 | -1 | F | 73 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 287 |
| T39 | 12 | | Marc Warren | -1 | +4 | F | 71 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 287 |
| T47 | 58 | | Stewart Cink | E | -3 | F | 71 | 75 | 73 | 69 | 288 |
| T47 | 52 | | Gregory Bourdy | E | -2 | F | 75 | 69 | 74 | 70 | 288 |
| T47 | 52 | | Paul Casey | E | -2 | F | 74 | 71 | 73 | 70 | 288 |
| T47 | 45 | | Zach Johnson | E | -1 | F | 71 | 75 | 71 | 71 | 288 |
| T51 | 68 | | Tom Watson | +1 | -4 | F | 73 | 73 | 75 | 68 | 289 |
| T51 | 52 | | Jason Dufner | +1 | -1 | F | 70 | 74 | 74 | 71 | 289 |
| T51 | 34 | | Bill Haas | +1 | +2 | F | 70 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 289 |
| T54 | 52 | | Matt Kuchar | +2 | E | F | 73 | 71 | 74 | 72 | 290 |
| T54 | 45 | | Matt Jones | +2 | +1 | F | 71 | 74 | 72 | 73 | 290 |
| T54 | 38 | | Kevin Na | +2 | +2 | F | 76 | 70 | 70 | 74 | 290 |
| T54 | 34 | | Kevin Streelman | +2 | +3 | F | 72 | 74 | 69 | 75 | 290 |
| T58 | 68 | | Jamie McLeary | +3 | -2 | F | 73 | 73 | 75 | 70 | 291 |
| T58 | 68 | | Ryan Palmer | +3 | -2 | F | 74 | 71 | 76 | 70 | 291 |
| T58 | 63 | | John Senden | +3 | -1 | F | 71 | 74 | 75 | 71 | 291 |
| T58 | 63 | | Jason Day | +3 | -1 | F | 73 | 73 | 74 | 71 | 291 |
| T58 | 45 | | Chris Rodgers | +3 | +2 | F | 73 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 291 |
| T58 | 45 | | Brandt Snedeker | +3 | +2 | F | 74 | 72 | 71 | 74 | 291 |
| T64 | 68 | | Billy Hurley III | +4 | -1 | F | 73 | 72 | 76 | 71 | 292 |
| T64 | 58 | | Thorbjorn Olesen | +4 | +1 | F | 75 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 292 |
| T64 | 45 | | Luke Donald | +4 | +3 | F | 73 | 73 | 71 | 75 | 292 |
| T67 | 72 | | Charley Hoffman | +5 | -1 | F | 74 | 72 | 76 | 71 | 293 |
| T67 | 58 | | Brooks Koepka | +5 | +2 | F | 68 | 77 | 74 | 74 | 293 |
| 69 | 58 | | Tiger Woods | +6 | +3 | F | 69 | 77 | 73 | 75 | 294 |
| 70 | 45 |  | Martin Kaymer | +8 | +7 | F | 73 | 72 | 72 | 79 | 296 |
| 71 | 58 | | Matt Every | +9 | +6 | F | 75 | 71 | 73 | 78 | 297 |
| 72 | 63 | | Rhein Gibson | +10 | +6 | F | 72 | 74 | 74 | 78 | 298 |