Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy has picked up the PGA tour player of the year award for the third time in his career. This came as a surprise to many who had been supporting World number one Brooks Koepka for the title, using the latest NJ online sports betting offers. Koepka won the PGA Championship earlier this season, as well as finishing second in two of the season’s three other majors.
McIlroy on the other hand won the Tour Championship for a second time, which also secured him with the FedEx Cup title. He also picked up two other victories this season, winning the Players Championship and the Canadian Open.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said “Rory’s season was a model of consistency punctuated by milestone victories and ultimately the FedEx Cup in Atlanta”. This shows the reason behind awarding him with the title over the World number one.
The latter victory in Atlanta came following the disappointment of him failing to make the cut at the Open at Royal Portrush by just one shot. However, he opened 2019 with top six finishes in his first five tournaments before then winning the Players. This meant he claimed his 15th career PGA Tour victory. That victory saw him join a select group of Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson, as just the third player to win the Players, a major, the FedEx Cup and a World golf Championships event.
Rory McIlroy has now pushed up to 2nd in the World rankings, with earnings of $7,785,286 from 48 events this 2019 season. This culminated in his impressive form as he now returns to the top of the sport. His previous PGA Tour player of the year awards came in 2012 and 2014.
At 30 years of age, McIlroy has picked up four majors throughout his incredible career but has yet to win the Masters. His best finish to date is 4th back in 2015, but this is certainly a tournament he will be looking to win prior to retiring. His first major success came back in 2011, when he landed the U.S Open. This saw him set numerous records in the process of winning by eight strokes from Jason Day.
Rory also has two victories in the PGA Championship, with his first coming back in 2012. He again won by eight strokes, meaning he became the sixth youngest winner of two majors at just 23 years and 3 months. He then picked up a second PGA Championship title just two years later. This saw him beating Phil Michelson by one stroke. Finally, McIlroy landed the 143rd edition of the Open Championship and became only the sixth to win the Championship going wire to wire after 72 holes. In the process he became the first European to win three different majors.
