One sentence from Rory McIlroy after his victory at the Canadian Open reinforced the untold damage Greg Norman has done to his golfing legacy via his involvement with LIV Golf.
McIlroy has been outspoken in his opposition to Norman’s controversial Saudi-backed operation that threw a combined $500m at players including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson de Chambeau to play in the LIV Golf events.
The first was played last weekend in London, with South African Charl Schwartzel collecting more than $5m for winning the 48-player, 54-hole event in front of sparse crowds, with no broadcast deal in place.
McIlroy, meanwhile, shot a final round 62 in Canada to beat Tony Finau and reigning PGA champion Justin Thomas, defending the title he won in 2019 and taking his PGA Tour wins to 21.
It’s one more win than Norman’s 20, and as he stood on the green after making a final hole birdie to close out victory, McIlroy made it clear how much that stat mattered.
“It’s my 21st win, one more than someone else (Norman), and that gave me a little bit of extra incentive today,” McIlroy said on the 18th green after his two-shot win in Ontario.
He then went again in his post-win press conference.
“One more than Norman,” he repeated.
“I alluded to it, I had extra motivation of what’s going on across the pond (in England). The guy that’s spearheading that Tour has 20 wins on the PGA Tour and I was tied with him and I wanted to get one ahead of him. And I did.
“So that was really cool for me, just a little sense of pride on that one.
“It means an awful lot. I feel like it’s getting tougher and tougher to win on the PGA Tour. Even, just look at the two guys that I played with today.
“I went out with a lead and had to shoot eight-under par to get the job done. So the depth of talent on this tour is really, really impressive. And going up against guys like JT and Tony and coming out on top, that’s something to feel really good about.”
McIlroy’s timing of victory is perfect ahead of this week’s US Open. He was the last person in 2014 to win the week before taking out a major, a fact that wasn’t lost on him.
“It does, it gives you a lot of confidence to know that, just to see where your game stacks up against the best. JT’s coming off winning his second major at the PGA Championship. He’s won I think 15 times on tour,” McIlroy said.
“So to go up against guys that are not just the best players in the world but best players in the world playing somewhat near their best and coming out on top, it can only give you confidence.
“I guess for me, just some of the shots that I hit coming down the stretch, those are things to certainly build on going into the next few weeks.”
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