McIlroy Closes Our 2018-19 Season In Grand Fashion And Now Mercifully We Don't Have To Hear About The FedExCup For A Month!

The Tour Championship was mostly a fantastic culmination to the season—unless you had a brush with death Saturday as a few people did including one poor young lad knocked unconscious who can’t get on a plane back to Northern Ireland. and I believe I speak for most who are very pleased to see the FedExCup season over.

The marketing gurus will love all the mentions, impressions and other measurements to justify the shipping corporation’s huge spend. But judging by social and most fans, there is an exhaustion level of hearing about this important competition that sadly will make many happy to see the PGA Tour go away for a while.

Not to worry, the big boys will be back in action a month from now.

In the meantime, Rory McIlroy won the Tour Championship and $15 million, capping off a sensational season outside of a few bad days in the majors.

As Steve DiMeglio writes for Golfweek, the numbers show McIlroy doing it with both his driving prowess and incredible short game play (second in SG scrambling for the week).

While the money is nice, Rory sounds like he was most tickled by facing down Brooks Koepka and prevailing with ease, writes Brian Wacker.

Bob Harig dug deeper into McIlroy’s dominating performance where he started the event five back of Justin Thomas for those still keeping track at home. As Ryan Herrington explains, McIlroy would have won this one under any format.

Koepka chalked the day up to not feeling comfortable, writes Dan Kilbridge.

Joel Beall declared the new format a success though it still has some loopholes.

The threat of runaway winner endures under the new format; the 10-under pre-tournament leader starting 65-65 as No. 2, 3 and 4 falter would produce a snoozer. And as much as cash is supposed to be the storyline, it continues to be a disconnect with fan.

What exists is not perfect. But it is a notion acknowledged by officials and players.

“It's been an evolution since Day 1,” Rose said. “We're trying to figure it out.

Remember, it was the players who signed off on this scoring chassis, and although not universal—count McIlroy as one of its early week detractors—many cited the conversion of points to strokes as a positive.

As for the near-disaster Saturday, the PGA Tour issued this statement updating the welfare of those injured and the all important ShotLink equipment damaged.

Updated PGA TOUR Statement, 9 a.m., Sunday

The Atlanta Police Department and Atlanta Fire and Rescue have confirmed that five individuals were injured and transported to nearby hospitals; a sixth person was treated and released at the scene.  All were released from the hospital last night.

The safety and well-being of our fans and players is our highest priority, and we were with those being treated until they were released from area hospitals.  We are deeply grateful that the injuries were not more serious, and we’re proud of the collective efforts of the on-site team to quickly care for our fans during this frightening incident. 

Furthermore, late yesterday afternoon, officials were brought on site to assess the integrity of the pine tree that was struck and determined it to be safe. Additionally, several pieces of ShotLink equipment were damaged by the lightning and were replaced overnight. 

The lone comment from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan came during the 18th green trophy ceremony and was met by lukewarm applause. Hopefully a more comprehensive response and plan of action will be forthcoming.

If you weren’t watching here are Rory’s final round highlights: