Rory Mcllroy, Kurt Kitayama, The CJ Cup 2022 in South Carolina, PGA Tour: Find Out The Full Results

At Congaree Golf Club, McIlroy shot a brilliant four-under 67 on the final day, including four birdies in a five-hole stretch on his back nine to pull ahead and win the CJ Cup 2022.  Despite bogeying his final two holes, Mcllroy ended on 17 under and one shot ahead of the USA’s Kurt Kitayama. KH Lee secured third place ahead of Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood. In addition to being the first FedExCup champion since Tiger Woods in 2008 to start his PGA Tour season with a victory, McIlroy’s third triumph of the year and 23rd PGA Tour title led him to surpass Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world rankings.

McIlroy, who started one ahead, took advantage of both early par-fives but was tied for the lead when Rahm, who was in the group ahead, followed birdies at the second and fourth holes.  The defending winner recovered to scramble a par and pulled two clear with a close-range birdie at the sixth, where Rahm made bogey to drop back to 14 under. McIlroy missed a 10-foot birdie chance at the ninth after a three-putt bogey at the eighth, but Kitayama holed from a similar distance to earn his third birdie of the round and make the round tied for the lead. Rahm tied the lead at the 12th hole with a two-putt birdie, but McIlroy quickly it by matching Kitayama’s birdie on the par-five and moving into a tie for first place with him at 16 under.

With a birdie at the par-three 14th, McIlroy pulled back in front. He then added another at the following hole, while Kitayama three-putted for par and dropped to two back.  Rahm’s hopes were shattered with a bogey at the 14th and a string of pars down the stretch, while McIlroy got to within three shots of victory with a 20-footer at the 16th. McIlroy dropped a shot at the 17th to narrow his lead to two heading to the par-four 18th, where a three-putt bogey resulted in his triumph as Kitayama failed to find a birdie.

The CJ Cup 2022 in South Carolina: Results