A careful McIlroy has a cool week and a win at the AT&T

PEBBLE BEACH — This was as good as it gets in golf—magnificent Pebble Beach in the sunshine, a leaderboard full of major champions, and Rory McIlroy, his once wild game tamed by maturity and wisdom, now under control, beating them all. On this Sunday, McIlroy delivered a masterful 66—each shot carefully crafted—even opting for a 5-iron off the tee at the historic par-5 18th. 

That’s the bayside hole that was nicknamed “The Finisher” nearly a century ago, and it proved to be just that for Rory McIlroy, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by two shots with a score of 21 under par, 267. In McIlroy’s wake were some of golf’s biggest names. Fellow Irishman Shane Lowry finished second at 269, while Justin Rose and Lucas Glover tied for third, another shot back. Lowry has a British Open to his credit, Rose owns both a Masters and a U.S. Open, and Glover is also a U.S. Open champion. Meanwhile, Sepp Straka, who led by a shot over McIlroy going into the final round, could only manage a 72 and slipped to a tie for 7th.  

McIlroy may be only 35, but he has been playing pro golf around the world, mostly on the European Tour, for years. He would hit the ball as far as possible to impress himself, spectators, and those in the media—but not always with precision, especially on the greens. Just last June he botched putts on the closing holes of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. But maybe that had an effect, if you listened to him and watched him at Pebble, McIlroy seemed to have learned from his failings—as golfers so often do as they mature. 

“Pinehurst hurt the most,” said McIlroy. “Again, thinking of strategy and maybe those impulses that I talked about, hitting the right shot at the right time or being in a different place mentally, calming yourself down, using breathing exercises, whatever it is, I think the one thing that I did  (Sunday) really well is that I didn’t get too flustered and it may—it certainly feels a little more boring to me.” 

“It might look a little bit more boring on the golf course, but it definitely is more effective. Today was a test and I was able to come through it pretty well.” 

McIlroy has 27 victories, no matter where they’ve been played, some of which were considered part of the PGA tour. This AT&T was his first this year on tour, with McIlroy having only arrived in California Monday from the Middle East, where he annually competes a few times during the Winter. 

So much success, and yet when people refer to Rory they mention how he fell apart in the final round in 2011 at the Masters, the only one of the four Grand Slam Events he has not won.  

“It’s been a great week for a lot of different reasons,” said McIlroy, who had an ace on the 15th at Spyglass Hill on Thursday, the first round, which is the other course used for the AT&T.

“Playing Cypress Point for the first time, obviously getting a win. Yeah—it’s been a really cool week. Obviously couldn’t wish for a better start for my PGA TOUR season.”