The man who began the week atop the betting board will end the weekend not only atop the leaderboard, but atop the world of golf as Rory McIlroy has ascended to world No. 1 once again with his victory at the 2022 CJ Cup. Turning in a four-round total of 17-under 267, McIlroy signed for rounds of 66-67-67-67 at Congaree Golf Club and successfully defended his CJ Cup title from a year ago in Las Vegas.
Starting the final round with a one-stroke lead, the Northern Irishman was brilliant from the word "go." Tacking on three birdies in his opening six holes, McIlroy momentarily extended his overnight lead before a bogey on the par-4 eighth and a short miss on the ninth saw the chasing pack make up ground.
With Jon Rahm, K.H. Lee and Kurt Kitayama all catching him, McIlroy was in a tough spot on the par-5 12th when his second consecutive tee shot found the trees. Able to recover for birdie, the 33-year-old was off and running as he converted crucial birdie opportunities on the difficult par-3 14th, drivable par-4 15th and short par-4 16th to transform a share of the lead into a three-stroke edge and slam the door shut.
A bogey-bogey finish over the final two holes was all McIlroy needed to secure his 23rd victory on the PGA Tour (his fourth in the last year) and complete his summit to the peak of men's golf. Dropping to 14th in the world this time last season, the CJ Cup represented the tournament in which McIlroy's ascent to the top of the golfing world began. Now world No. 1 for the ninth time in his career, the quest is now to remain there.
Discussing at length this week what it would mean to reach world No. 1 the first time in 2012, McIlroy was adamant the journey – and not the destination – is where he finds enjoyment.
"I think if I get back to No. 1 this week, it's like my ninth time getting back. It sort of illustrates you can have your runs and you can stay there, but I think the cool part is the journey and the journey getting back there," said McIlroy. "It's sort of like a heavyweight boxer losing a world title and it's a journey to get that title back. I feel like that's the cool part of it, and that's the journey that I've sort of been through over the past 12 months."
Twelve months -- or even 10-plus years -- McIlroy's consistent greatness is often lost on us. With this victory, he becomes only the 28th player in the history of the PGA Tour to win at least 23 events, passing Raymond Floyd and getting within one of golfing great Gary Player in the process.
Fair or not, the climb back to world No. 1, the PGA Tour accolades and the well-thought-out media sessions often take a back seat to major championships (with an added emphasis on a particular one in April). For once, however, let us all take a collective breath and celebrate what McIlroy has done, is doing, and possibly will do in the not-so-distant future. Grade: A+
Here are the rest of the grades for the 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina
2. Kurt Kitayama (-16): The two-time winner on the DP World Tour acquitted himself quite nicely alongside McIlroy in the final grouping. Matching him shot for shot for most of the day, it was the par-4 15th that was his ultimate undoing; he three-putted for par after driving the green while McIlroy got up-and-down for birdie from the greenside bunker. Still, in only his second campaign on the PGA Tour, Kitayama has shown to have the guts and gumption in the heat of battle. He stared down Jon Rahm at the Mexico Open last spring, and should he put himself in this position more often, a win should be coming sooner rather than later. Grade: A+
T4. Jon Rahm (-14): Rahm came up short in the end, but it's the continuation of some outrageously good play from him. In his last six starts, he's finished T5-T8-T15-T2-1-T4. This week was, statistically, a return to more of how he started 2022. Though his last few good finishes have been because of lights-out putting, this week he finished fourth off the tee and second from tee to green, which is how he operates. It was unfortunate for him that he couldn't back up his 62 on Friday with anything special on Saturday (70) or Sunday (69), but it's always good to have Rahm in the mix, especially when so many top players are in the field. Grade: A
T11. Jason Day (-10): Is Jason Day back? The former world No. 1 has now put together consecutive strong outings on the PGA Tour, with this T11 result on the heels of a T8 effort at the Shriners Children's Open. He signed for four rounds in the 60s as the iron play continues to impress in what has been a very nice to start out the season. Day looks 100% healthy for the first time in a long time, and it is a great thing for the game of golf. Grade: A
T28. Collin Morikawa (-5): It was a nice bounce back for Morikawa after a bad showing (for him) at the Zozo Championship. It's not surprising to see him out of contention when he doesn't putt well, but it is nice to see his iron play form on point for the week. The formula for him is very simple: putt well and contend. In eight positive putting performances during the 2021-22 PGA Tour season, he finished in the top five six times. In 10 negative putting performances, he didn't have a top-20 finish. That's instructive — Morikawa finished 75th of 78 in putting this week — and it helps ease the frustration of bad finishes for the two-time major champion. Grade: B-
T52. Jordan Spieth (+1): On a course many expected him to play well, few played worse than the three-time major champion. The concern here is not the putter (he was below average all week and duffed a tap-in on Thursday) but rather that he nearly finished last in the field in iron play, which is his greatest strength. It's not anything to get worked up about, but it was certainly a disappointing showing from somebody who came in off a blazing hot Presidents Cup showing. Grade: D