Rory McIlroy wins 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina, will jump to No. 1 in rankings

Rory McIlroy went to the first tee Sunday with a goal of winning the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup in South Carolina well aware that a victory would earn an added plum — No. 1 in the world rankings for the eighth time.

That’s a far cry from the state of his game just more than a year ago.

Then, he had skidded from first in July 2020 to 15th in the rankings in September 2021. He had missed cuts in the Masters and Players, finished a forgettable T49 in the PGA at Kiawah and T46 in the Open Championship, and played poorly in the Ryder Cup.

Now, he’s back on top of the professional golf world.

Flashing a strong finishing kick worthy of the No. 1 player in the world, McIlroy took command Sunday with three consecutive late-round birdies and earned the 23rd PGA Tour tournament victory of his career.

The triumph at Congaree Golf Club in rural Jasper County continued his sizzling string of success — a win in the Tour Championship and T2, 4 and T4 on the DP World Tour in his last four starts.

The difference: “Getting back to ownership of my game,” he said.

Mission accomplished, but this one did not come easily. Indeed, the birdie blitz enabled him to prevail despite a bogey-bogey finish.

He posted rounds of 66-67-67-67—267 (17-under par) over Congaree’s 7,655-yard, par-71 layout.

“I knew I had to played well today” to win, he said. “Shooting par would not be good enough.” But, he added with a laugh, “I would rather have finished 4-4 rather than 5-5.”

Kurt Kitayama, who played college golf at UNLV and is hungry for his first PGA Tour win after some near misses, went into the back nine even with McIlroy in a four-player chase that included K.H. Lee and Jon Rahm.

McIlroy delivered the knockout blows on holes 14-16, stretching his advantage of three strokes clear of his closest pursuers.

Tied with Kitayama on the 14th tee, McIlroy left his stee shot on the 227-yard hole 13 feet from the hole rolled the putt home. Kitayama missed from 43 feet.

On the drivable par-4 15th with 318 yards to the front and 348 yards to the pin, McIlroy left his tee ball in the waste bunker and Kitayama found the green.

Advantage Kitayama.

But McIlroy splashed his sand shot to five feet and made the putt for birdie. His challenger sent his first putt seven feet past the hole and missed coming back.

At the 16th, McIlroy rolled home a 21-foot birdie to stretch his advantage to three.

“A nice bonus,” he said, and a needed one after he bogeyed the 17th from a fairway waste area and three-putted the last.

Upon reflection on the past two years, he said he erred in making some changes that included looking for input from a different coach.

“I sort of went down a path that I realized wasn’t for me,” he said. “I struck the ball very poorly at Bay Hill in ’21 on the weekend, then at the first two days of the Players ... I was producing golf shots that I didn’t know where they were coming from. So, I started down a different path.”

He started well with new coach Pete Cowen, winning the Wells Fargo in Charlotte.

“But I started to keep going down that path a little too much and then ... I just felt like I didn’t fully own what I was doing. I was just trying to get a little bit more of me back into it.”

He did. Since winning the CJ Cup at year ago, he had a win in the RBC Canadian Open and top-eight finishes in all four majors before his current sizzling streak.

“Winning means a lot; I’ve worked so hard over the last 12 months to get myself back to this place,” he said. “I feel like I’m enjoying the game as much as I ever have. I absolutely love the game of golf and I think that when I go out there and I play with that joy, it’s definitely showed over these last 12 months. Yeah, it feels awesome.”

“... I think it’s a big achievement. I’m really proud of myself right now and I want to go and enjoy this, the journey of trying to get the best out of myself.”

How much money does winner get?

The CJ Cup has a $10.5 million purse. The winner earns $1.89 million and $1.134 million goes to second place. The top 14 places earn at or above $200,000:

• 1. $1,890,000
• 2. $1,134,000
• 3. $714,000
• 4. $504,000
• 5. $420,000
• 6. $378,000
• 7. $351,750
• 8. $325,500
• 9. $304,500
• 10. $283,500
• 11. $262,500
• 12. $241,500
• 13. $220,500
• 14. $199,500

This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 5:45 PM.