Memorial Tournament notebook | McIlroy pleased with play, fourth-place finish

William McGirt Wins 2016 Memorial Tournament

Rory McIlroy never made a serious push for the top of the leader board Sunday at the Memorial Tournament, but the worlds No. 3 player didnt disappoint himself or his fans.

I feel like 68 is a pretty solid score, McIlroy said of his closing round that pushed him into a tie for fourth. I take a lot from the way I played for the most part this week.

Coming off a win at the Irish Open, McIlroy had the best performance of any of the worlds top three golfers, including No. 1 Jason Day (tied for 27th) and No. 2 Jordan Spieth (tied for 57th). His driver was a major factor.

McIlroy unleashed crowd-pleasers off the tee all week, finishing second in average driving distance (303.4 yards) to Dustin Johnson (304.2). McIlroy was accurate, too, hitting 42 of 56 fairways.

That bodes well heading into the U.S. Open in two weeks at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh.

Thats always a good club to have in your bag going into the U.S. Open, McIlroy said. I think it more comes from confidence than anything else, that I can stand on the tee box and aim right down the middle of the fairway and swing as hard as I can.

Not a threat

Jason Day, an Australian who lives in Westerville, began the final round seven shots off the lead and never mounted a charge. He matched his best finish on his home course with final round of 2-over 74.

Missing greens with wedges in the hand, Day said of his biggest issue in the final round. Just wasnt as sharp as I would have liked to have been. I hit in the water twice today. Just cant do that when youre trying to win a tournament.

Day maintained the top position in the World Golf Ranking that he earned from winning seven of his previous 17 events, including the PGA Championship and the Players Championship. His attention now turns to the U.S. Open.

Ive just got to focus on getting the process right, Day said. If I can do that, then hopefully the U.S. Open will time perfectly, and I can peak there.

Empty again

Phil Mickelson birdied three holes in a row on the front nine to put himself in position to challenge for the lead.

But he couldnt sustain it. Bogeys on the first three holes of the back nine ended his hopes. Mickelson shot par 72 and finished at 10 under, tied for 20th.

I didnt putt well enough to win, but it was a fun week, said Mickelson, who is winless in 16 Memorials. I dont have a good answer as to why I have not ever played very well here in the past because I think its a course that does suit my game. I just havent done it.

Home cooking

Dublin native Kyle Reifers finished his best Memorial performance with a 3-under 69 to tie for 20th.

He had a bogey-free round until his final hole when he couldnt get up and down after hitting his approach long into the rough.

It was windy, Reifers said. You just had to keep your sanity. Obviously, Im not pumped to bogey the last hole. But I played really well.

Chip shots

The toughest hole of the tournament was the par-3 No. 16, which played to an average score of 3.232. The easiest was the par-5 seventh (4.482). Rod Pampling had a hole-in-one at No. 16 in the final round, the only ace this week. The scoring average through the first three rounds was 70.681. It was 72.267 on Sunday. Only 12 of 162 rounds of the Memorial have had a scoring average below 71, including the first three rounds this year.

Source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2016/06/06/memorial-tournament-notebook--mcilroy-pleased-with-play-fourth-place-finish.html