Rory McIlroy just keeps getting better and better.
The Northern Irishman cruised to a five-under 67 final round for an overall score of 20-under 268, and a two-shot victory in the BMW championships at Crooked Stick. The victory was also his second-straight in the FedExCup Playoffs, and his third out of the last four, after his record win at the PGA Championship, the final major of the year.
Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson finished tied for second, on 18-under 270, after carding a 69 and 70 respectively. Tiger Woods was tied for fourth place, a further shot behind with Robert Garrigus for company.
"The more you put yourself in this position, and the more you win and the more you pick up trophies, it becomes normal," McIlroy said. "And it feels like this is what you're supposed to do."
McIlroy's dominance is reaching a similar vein to what Woods was used to a while back.
"I don't think I'm quite there yet," McIlroy said. "But I'm getting to that stage where I'm thinking, 'This is what I should be doing. I should be lifting a trophy at the end of the week.'
"It's been great. The last four, five weeks have been incredible, some of the best golf that I've ever played. I'm going to try and keep the run going for as long as possible."
Going into the final round trailing by a shot from Mickelson and Vijay Singh, who finished a disappointing eighth after a final round 73, McIlroy made back-to-back birdies at the turn, and then completed some clutch putts in the final few holes to clinch victory. The boy wonder did not bogey until the last hole at the 18th.
"I played with him when he was 13, and you could see it then," Westwood said. "He's just maturing all the time, as he will do. And he's a very, very good player."
"A lot of people stayed neutral and Rory geared ahead," Mickelson added.
Even Woods is impressed by McIlroy's form. "Rory is putting on a show out there, and we've got one more tournament," Woods said. "He's going out there and is up near the lead and posts a good number.
"He's doing the things he needs to do, and as he said yesterday, he's feeling very confident about his game. Right now he's just really played well, and he's making a ton of putts. That's a great combo."
