McIlroy 1 Stroke Behind in 2nd Place "Regretful, Aiming to Reclaim World No.1"

'Special Match' Arnold Palmer Invitational FR

World No. 3 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) failed to reclaim the 'Number 1' spot.

On the 6th (Korean time), McIlroy added 2-under par in the final round of the PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational (total prize money $20 million) held at Bay Hill Club & Lodge (par 72, 7,466 yards) in Orlando, Florida, but settled for a tie for 2nd place, one stroke behind (8-under 280). This marks his second top-2 finish of the 2022/2023 season following his victory at The CJ Cup last October. Had McIlroy won this tournament, he could have overtaken Jon Rahm (Spain) to become the world No. 1.

World No. 3 Rory McIlroy performed well, finishing tied for 2nd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but failed to reclaim the No. 1 spot.

Starting from a tie for 5th place, three strokes behind, McIlroy recorded seven birdies and five bogeys. He was unable to lower his score in the front nine, exchanging three birdies for three bogeys, but surged ahead with three birdies on holes 10, 12, and 13 to take the lead. However, consecutive bogeys on holes 14 and 15 halted his momentum. McIlroy regained strength with a birdie on the 16th hole (par 5), but his birdie putt on the final 18th hole (par 4) narrowly missed, preventing the contest from going into a playoff.

World No. 46 Kurt Kitayama (USA) did not lower his score in the final round but secured his first career victory with a 9-under 279 total. The winner's prize money is $3.6 million (approximately 4.68 billion KRW). Harris English (USA) finished tied for 2nd, while defending champion Scottie Scheffler (USA), Patrick Cantlay, and Jordan Spieth (all USA) tied for 4th place at 7-under 281. Rahm finished tied for 39th at 1-over 289.

From Korea, Im Sung-jae recorded five birdies, two bogeys, and one double bogey to finish 1-under, tied for 21st place (3-under 285). Kim Joo-hyung shot 2-under to rise to a tie for 34th (even par 288). Sony Open winner Kim Si-woo and rookie Kim Sung-hyun each lowered their scores by two strokes, tying for 39th place.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.