On Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Rory McIlroy was staring at a six-stroke deficit to Paul Casey.
He caught Casey by the time he hit the back nine of the second FedEx Cup Playoff event on Monday at TPC Boston. McIlroy went out in 31 with five birdies before closing with a 34; he shot 65 and won the tournament at 15 under by two strokes over Casey, who shot a 2-over 73.
It was McIlroy's first PGA Tour win since the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship. The 65 tied his best final-round score in a win since his first PGA Tour victory at the Quail Hollow Championship in 2010 when he shot a 62 on Sunday.
With the victory, McIlroy also become the third player in the last 30 years with 12 or more PGA Tour wins before his 28th birthday (and he doesn't turn 28 until next May).
He shot 67-66-65 to close out his first PGA Tour win in 16 months, and he made it look fairly easy.
Dustin Johnson reverted to classic D.J. form with a 75-66 finish. His narrative is basically the same as Rory's. If he putts well, he wins or finishes top five. He was No. 41 in putting this week and finished T9. A solid showing, but he had a real chance to take hold of the Player of the Year race with a win.
After early struggles, Jason Day fought his way to a 68-67 finish and T15 outing. He will remain in the top five in the FedEx Cup points race which is paramount going to the Tour Championship here in a couple of weeks. As long as you're in that top five, you can control your own destiny at East Lake.
Bubba Watson missed a cut he really needed to make. He is not guaranteed a spot on the Ryder Cup team, and he did not play well when he really needed it.
