Rory McIlroy prevails in sudden-death playoff to win The Match

Rory McIlroy won the riveting ninth edition of Capital One’s The Match, outlasting Max Homa, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang at The Park in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday night.

Rory McIlroy won the riveting ninth edition of Capital One’s The Match, outlasting Max Homa, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang at The Park in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday night. Originally scheduled to be a 12-hole, mixed-skins match, the event was forced to go into a sudden-death playoff, where McIlroy won the closest-to-the-pin competition to claim the $1.6 million prize. In total, McIlroy racked up $2.4 million after tallying six birdies in the event. “It is pretty cool,” the Northern Irish star said after taking the win. “I didn’t put my best effort out there the previous Match that I played, so I wanted to come here and redeem myself a little bit and it’s nice to walk away with the win.” With the competition featuring female golfers for the first time, it was Thompson who jumped out to an early lead after making a long eagle putt on the second hole to win $200,000. Ten-time LPGA tournament winner Thompson held the solo lead until the fourth hole, where players were only allowed to use only one club of their choosing. Opting for his 5-wood, McIlroy made par to win $200,000 and draw level with Thompson on the par-4 hole.