Rory McIlroy is your 2019 Players Champion

Rory McIlroy had to chase down a red-hot Jim Furyk at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday. Furyk went out and had himself a day and finished the final three holes at two-under, including one of the best drive and second-shot combos we’ve seen on the 18th hole in a long time.

So much sauce here! As much as we all like to poke fun at Jim Furyk, the man can play.

McIlroy got a little bit of help on the 17th when both Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood found the water with their tee shots, removing them from any chance at catching either Furyk or himself.

McIlroy handled the 17th easily and then put on a show of his own on 18.

Although he didn’t birdie the 17th hole, his back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th were enough to give him a one-stroke lead over Furyk.

This has been coming for McIlroy all season. He’s finished T4, T5, T4, 2, T6, and 1 in his last six PGA Tour events dating back to January at the Tournament of Champions. He leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained off-the-tee, strokes gained tee-to-green, and strokes gained total.

It was only a matter of time before McIlroy claimed a win this season. I’m not sure if it came just a little too early, or if he’ll just continue playing this red-hot type of golf for the next five weeks and finally walk away with a green jacket.

According to Jeff Sherman, McIlroy is now the favorite to win the Masters at 8/1 odds over Dustin Johnson, who also had a great week at Sawgrass and finished T5 at 13-under.

Here’s a full look at the leaderboard, which was about as good as anyone could ask for on a Sunday at a big tournament.