The Telegraph
Rory McIlroy breaks 19-month title drought with emotional Wells Fargo Championship success
Quail Hollow would always have held a special place in the Rory McIlroy story anyway, but now the North Carolina layout surely deserves a chapter all of its very own after this dramatic turnaround. At the course where he first broke his US duck 11 years ago, McIlroy returned for another emotional win that could well go on to hold as much resonance. With a 68 – and a huge fright on the 18th – McIlroy fended off a high quality and, at stages, tightly packed PGA Tour leaderboard to lift his first title in 19 months. He arrived here at 15th in the world – his lowest ranking since 2009 – and on the back of two missed cuts at the Players and the Masters. But he left that worrying mediocrity behind, with a 10-under total one-shot success over Mexican Abraham Ancer that hauls him back up into the world’s top 10. And with the USPGA taking place next week at a course where he also has a back story – McIlroy won the same major by eight shots the last time it was held at Kiawah Island in 2012 – everything seems possible for the Northern Irishman again. Could a hat-trick of Quail Hollow crowns be followed by a third Wanamaker Trophy, as he finally ends his seven-year majorless run? For now, that question can wait as McIlroy celebrates his 28th professional win, yet his first as a dad. Cheered on all the way by a passionate crowd who cared not a jot about nationality, McIlroy plainly relished performing again in a rowdy arena. McIlroy hated playing in the sterile environs of the behind-closed-doors era.
