Rory McIlroy’s bid for a second Gamers Championship will rumble right into a fifth day. He might effectively be thankful for that; within the ultimate significant act of day 4, the little-known JJ Spaun got here inside a few ball rotations of snatching the PGA Tour’s marquee occasion from McIlroy’s grasp. How that will have stung the Northern Irishman. The pair will as an alternative return on Monday morning for a 3 gap playoff. McIlroy is the clear favorite however Spaun, with nothing to lose, carries menace.
As with a lot involving McIlroy, this proved dramatic stuff. He was 4 photographs adrift of the lead earlier than a shot was struck on Sunday. Inside 5 holes, he was tied on the prime. A four-hour climate delay ensued; when McIlroy birdied the twelfth upon return, he led by three. McIlroy performed the closing six in a single over as Spaun birdied the 14th and sixteenth to power further time.
“It was a battle all day,” McIlroy stated. “I really feel like I must be going house with the trophy tonight however that’s high-quality, I’ll reset and hopefully go house with the trophy tomorrow.”
A lot all the time is determined by the closing two holes on the Stadium Course. McIlroy was irritated by a par on the seventeenth after his tee shot discovered a clumsy lie however responded by hitting a powerful iron into the center of the 18th fairway. From there, he got here up 73ft quick; McIlroy’s two-putt was a great one. Spaun additionally made a 3 on the seventeenth however his tee shot on the final completed in pine straw. The underdog’s nerveless strategy left him 30ft for glory. The putt completed so agonisingly quick for Spaun. His 72 and McIlroy’s 68 left the duo at 12 beneath par. Tom Hoge, Lucas Glover and Akshay Bhatia had been subsequent in line at minus 10.
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Robert MacIntyre’s 69 delivered the Scot’s newest extremely spectacular, top-10 end. MacIntyre’s requirements now are such that he was dissatisfied with that, having dropped photographs on the fifteenth and 18th.
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Scottie Scheffler’s cloak of invincibility has, for now at the very least, been tossed within the bin. His try and win three Gamers in a row ended with a whimper and a 73. “I stroll away from this week feeling shut,” Scheffler stated. “I really feel like there’s some stuff that I must work on at house however I really feel very shut.”