SHANGHAI – Given another shot at winning the HSBC Champions, Rory McIlroy delivered his best one of the day.
Even though he never trailed over the last 14 holes Sunday – and didn’t make a bogey all weekend – McIlroy felt fortunate to be standing on the tee at the par-5 18th in a playoff with Xander Schauffele, who won this World Golf Championship event a year ago.
On the final hole in regulation, McIlroy thought his drive was in the water and so was relieved to find the ball a foot from the red hazard line.
After five hours of an exquisite battle between McIlroy, Schauffele and Louis Oosthuizen, the pivotal moment was when Schauffele reached into a hat on the 18th tee for a white slip of paper with “2” written on it. That meant McIlroy would go first in the playoff.
There were no doubts about his next two shots.