Rory McIlroy wins the Players Championship on St Patrick’s Day in perfect warm-up for Grand Slam bid at the Masters
Four-time Major champion gets ideal boost for bid at Grand Slam by winning unofficial fifth Major at Sawgrass
RORY McILROY won the Players Championship on St Patrick's Day - in a perfect warm-up for his Grand Slam bid at the Masters.
The four-time Major champ overcame last year's US Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk to win by one on 16 under at treacherous Sawgrass.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy, 29, is looking to become just the sixth player in history to win all four Majors.
And he tucked the unofficial fifth Major under his belt after starting one behind overnight leader Jon Rahm.
McIlroy birdied the par-five 16th to go one ahead of Furyk and held his nerve on the hellish 17th and 18th to win.
It meant a closing two-under 70 and an astonishing £1.7million first-place cheque - the second-richest prize in the game for one event.
Furyk, whose American side were defeated by McIlroy and Co at Le Golf National last October, held the clubhouse lead after birdieing the last.
But it was one too short for the 48-year-old.
McIlroy now breaks a winless streak that extended back over a year to the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
He has not won a Major since the 2014 US PGA and now goes into Augusta in three weeks' time as one of the favourites.
England's Eddie Pepperell shared third with Colombia's Jhonattan Vegas on 14 under.
Fellow Brit Tommy Fleetwood finished joint fifth a shot further back with Brandt Snedeker and Dustin Johnson.