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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Vincent Whelan

Rory McIlroy holds his nerve to win Canadian Open in front of raucous support from locals

Rory McIlroy held off big-name competition down the stretch to retain the RBC Canadian Open in front of a boisterous home crowd that cheered him on as if he was one of their own.

It's the 33-year-old's 21st career win on The PGA Tour as he continues to regain top form.

On a day when scoring was low across the star-studded final group of McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau, he produced a round of 62 (-8) to finish up on -19 for the tournament.

Things had begun to look a little dicey on the 15th and 16th when Thomas tied with him temporarily. But McIlroy steadied himself and came up with a gorgeous approach shot from the first cut on 17 to set himself up for another birdie while Thomas' game wilted over the final two holes and he was overtaken for second by Finau.

It was very striking how loud the galleries were as they took to smacking the hoardings in a manner akin to an ice hockey game prior to being shushed by officials...dressed as NHL referees.

It was also very noticeable just how widespread their support was for McIlroy in spite of there being two other A-listers also in the running for the tournament.

A few 'Ole, Ole, Ole' chants even broke out as they finished up their rounds on 18.

This win at St. George's will now ramp up the hype machine regarding McIlroy's chances at next week's US Open.

In his post-round interview he summed up how he's gotten his game back in top shape this year.

He said: "I think after Covid and everything I needed a complete reset. I sorta re-dedicated myself to the game a little bit and realised what makes me happy.

"And this makes me happy. So I've just put the work in. I've got a great team around me and they're behind me 100% so that makes it easier for me to just go and do things like I did today."

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