The Amgen Irish Open

Rasmus Højgaard pulled ahead of Rory McIlroy on the final round of the Amgen Irish Open to beat the Northern Irishman and win the tournament by a single stroke.

McIlory was leading by four shots overnight, and he started his final round very strong on back-to-back opening birdies. Taking him to 8-under-par. His momentum faltered however with a string of pars and a bogey on the 7^th hole, his competitors always right behind him.

Højgaard threw himself into his own Sunday round by making 8 birdies including three in a row on the final three holes to get to 9-under-par, the lowest score yet reached in the tournament.

Rory however had bogeyed the 15^th and 17^th holes, resulting in placing himself in the unenviable position of needing to eagle the par-5 18^th hole in order to force a playoff with Højgaard.

The World No.3 hit a cracking drive before striking his approach shot just a matter of feet away from the hole. His putt, while having excellent pace, veered to the right, just missing the hole. While he finished in second place, the crowd watching was ecstatically cheering on their local hero.

Falling short of winning the Irish Open was reminiscent of his narrowly missing out at the US Open earlier this year. Rory was understandably disappointed that he’d come so close yet failed yet again.

“I felt like I was in control of the tournament for most of the day. I felt I was playing really solid and doing what I needed to do. Then obviously the two bogeys on 15 and 17 opened the door for someone to have a good finish like what Rasmus did on the last few holes.”

Golf can be a very emotional game, and it keeps us coming back to the course for more. If you’re visiting us this week, we’d be happy to help you out with any golfing needs in the pro shop.