Coca-Cola UNITED colleagues Jeff Suto, Ryan Earl, and Derek Wainwright, along with CCBCU President and CEO John Sherman and CCNA President Jim Dinkins, recently celebrated with Rory McIlroy after he won the 2019 PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
With the win, McIlroy got his second FedEx Cup in four years, and another vintage Coca-Cola vending machine. He’s only the second golfer (Tiger Woods was first) to win multiple FedEx Cups.
McIlroy was up against Brooks Koepka at the end of the Tour Championship, who had beaten him in Memphis only a few weeks prior. He followed a 2-under 33 on the front nine, and got birdies at Nos. 12 and 13 on the back to get 18 under. He bogeyed the next two holes, but it didn’t matter much. He made a clutch par at No. 16, then final birdies on both 17 and 18.
Rory’s golf career started early, and has been full of accomplishments. In 1996, he was the youngest member of the Holywood Golf Club in the United Kingdom at seven years old. His lifelong coach, Michael Bannon, said that even at that age he was a great asset to the golf club. His very first hole in one was at ten years old, and he won the Age 9-10 World Championships in Miami in 1998, his first international title.
McIlroy is the first golfer ever to win the Players and Tour Championship in the same season. He also walked away from this event with three wins, $23 million in earnings, and the best non-Tiger Woods strokes-gained season this century. He was in the top 10 in 74% of events, and the third golfer ever to win multiple Tour Championships (Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson accomplished this first).
Sports experts expect a lot more from McIlroy in the future—we’re all excited to see what he accomplishes in the year 2020.