Led by Rory McIlroy’s phenomenal performance, The European Tour’s Membership produced a truly dominant display in the season’s final Major Championship with Tour players finishing in positions one, two, three and seven.
It was unquestionably McIlroy’s week but the outstanding showings of David Lynn (second), Justin Rose and Ian Poulter (tied third alongside defending champion Keegan Bradley) and Jamie Donaldson and Peter Hanson (tied seventh) was further proof of the current strength in depth flowing throughout The European Tour.
The high flying Members were delighted with their final results.
Lynn, who posted a final round 68 to take second spot and the biggest cheque of his career of US$865,000, said: “To come and perform the way I have this week in a Major is still very special and it's a great achievement. It's not sunk in properly yet to be honest.”
Rose, whose six under 66 was the second lowest final round next McIlroy and Luke Donald, said: “It’s obviously a really great way to finish. I’m very happy with my day's golf and made some putts down the stretch which is probably what I haven't been doing of late. If I look at my last two weekends at Firestone and here I'm feeling very good about all the tournaments I have coming up.”
Poulter’s sensational start of six birdies in his first seven holes represented the most serious challenge to McIlroy in the final round. He said: “I put myself in position, which was great. I couldn't ask for a better nine hole to start and then birdieing 11 and 12 was also pretty good. So I put myself in position and I guess I run out of a little bit of steam coming around the turn but it was a great day. I hit a lot of good golf shots, and it's just a shame I couldn't quite finish it off.”
Irish Open Champion Donaldson continued his exceptional season on Tour, adding: “The course was awesome, one of the best courses I've ever played. It's quite incredible and I had a great week and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I love playing on the coast and to come to America and play this place, it's been very memorable.”
Hanson’s tie for seventh will go a long way to cementing his place in Europe’s Ryder Cup Team to face the USA at Medinah next month, a fact that was not lost on the Swede: "This is a fantastic golf course overall it's been a great week. I have found a lot of confidence and I am starting to hit the ball very well again so hopefully I can take this momentum into the next few weeks because there are a lot of big tournaments coming up and none are bigger than The Ryder Cup.”
