Going up against Greg Norman’s rival circuit (LIV Golf) for the first time, the PGA Tour at the RBC Canadian Open had everything.
A spirited crowd, a stacked leaderboard, a top-flight champion (Rory McIlroy) and a little shade.
Moments after McIlroy, one of the Tour’s biggest defenders, knocked in the winning putt for his 21st Tour title, he was joined by CBS Sports’ Amanda Renner for his post-round interview. And he took a dig at one of golf’s noteworthy figures.
Full-field scores from RBC Canadian Open
“This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time,” he said. “Twenty-first PGA Tour win, one more than someone else. That gave me a little bit of extra incentive today, and happy to get it done.”
If there was any doubt as to who that “someone” was, McIlroy made it clear when he was announced during his post-round press conference as a 21-time PGA Tour winner.
“And one more than Norman,” McIlroy said.
Norman finished his Hall-of-Fame career with 20 PGA Tour wins. He is now the CEO of LIV Golf, a Saudi-funded series that has been poaching PGA Tour players with exorbitant signing bonuses and tournament purses. The first of seven 54-hole LIV Golf events took place Thursday-Saturday in London.
“I alluded to it, I had extra motivation of what’s going on across the pond,” McIlroy added during his winner’s presser with the general media. “The guy that’s spear heading 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.”
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