World number one Brooks Koepka says Rory McIlroy was a worthy winner of the end-of-season Tour Championship on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman wrapped up his second FedEx Cup title at East Lake in impressive fashion, finishing four shots clear of nearest rival Xander Schauffele on 18-under-par, while Koepka ended a shot further back in a share of third with Justin Thomas.
Koepka played alongside McIlroy during Sunday’s final round in Atlanta and he was impressed by the performance of the 30-year-old, admitting he emerged as a worthy winner of the $15million top prize. “[McIlroy] just played better,” Koepka said.
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“He played great golf today, pretty much mistake-free. He was impressive to watch. He put it in the fairway a lot, hit a lot of green. “Even his short game, the up-and-down he made on 11, that was pretty tasty right there. Then the way he finished it off right there was very impressive, and hats off to him.”
The tie for third place brought another successful season to an end for Koepka, who registered three victories during the campaign, including a fourth major title at the PGA Championship. Despite winning two majors during 2018, the 29-year-old believes this has been his most consistent year to date and he is happy with where his game is at.
“I thought my consistency was a little bit better,” Koepka said. “I think if you take away the major wins, I would say this year is probably better.
This year was very, very consistent. I felt like every time I needed to, I played well. This week, just didn’t get it done. I don’t think I was going to beat Rory today, even if I had it, but pleased with the season overall.”
