* McIlroy overhauls Oosthuizen at the TPC Boston
* Joins Woods as a three-time winner in 2012
(Adds detail, quotes)
By Ben Everill
NORTON, Massachusetts, Sept 3 (Reuters) – World number one
Rory McIlroy clinched his fifth PGA Tour title, and second in
three starts, with a one-shot victory over South Africa’s Louis
Oosthuizen at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday.
McIlroy, who began the final round three shots behind
Oosthuizen, fired a four-under-par 67 for a 20-under 264 that
handed the 23-year-old Northern Irishman the second of the PGA
Tour’s four FedExCup playoff events.
Oosthuizen (71), who trailed McIlroy by three strokes with
six holes to play at the TPC Boston, finished alone in second
while former world number one Tiger Woods (66) was alone in
third a further shot back.
The win was McIlroy’s third of the season and first since
last month’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. It put him level
with Woods for the most victories on the PGA Tour this year.
“Today was great,” McIlroy told reporters. “I am delighted
to get this win, delighted to go to No. 1 in the FedExCup,
because it sets me up for a great next couple of weeks.
“Going out with a three-shot deficit. I just wanted to get
off to a good solid start and maybe put Louis under a little bit
of pressure.”
The win guarantees that McIlroy will go into the
season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta knowing that a
victory there would earn him the overall FedExCup title and the
bonus of $10 million.
However, Monday’s final round at the TPC Boston was by no
means a cakewalk for McIlroy.
OOSTHUIZEN FIGHTBACK
Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, fought back
after the turn and faced a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole
to force a playoff but his attempt slid past the right edge of
the cup.
“You could hear all the commentators in the crowd saying
what the putt is doing, so after putting that aside and just
reading the putt properly, standing over it, I wanted to hit
more than I read,” the South African said.
“But even if I had putted where I read it, it doesn’t do
that much, which is amazing. If I go and hit that putt again,
I’d probably miss it on exactly the same side.”
Woods started the day six strokes off the lead but, despite
carding a bogey-free round, he never really threatened the
leaders.
The 14-times major champion was four under on the front nine
and then carded eight successive pars before signing off with a
birdie at the last.
By clinching a third-place cheque for $544,000, Woods became
the first player to surpass $100 million in career earnings on
the PGA Tour.
South Korea’s KJ Choi and Australians Jason Day and Aaron
Baddeley were among several leading players who failed to finish
in the top 70 in the FedExCup standings and will therefore not
advance to next week’s BMW Championship in Carmel, Indiana.
(Editing by Frank Pingue and Mark Lamport-Stokes)
