ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy marched to the 18th green Sunday at East Lake with victory in hand and $15 million in the bank.

Even better was what he saw – and heard – behind him.

The scene was all too familiar. The gallery ducked under the ropes and rushed to encircle the green to watch the finish of a class performance in the Tour Championship. Before long, the chants began to ring out: “Rory! Rory! Rory!”

This time, McIlroy had the stage to himself.

A mere bystander last year amid the chaotic celebration of Tiger Woods’ return to victory, McIlroy soaked up the perfect ending to a solid year when he surged past Brooks Koepka, held off Xander Schauffele and captured the FedEx Cup and the richest payoff in golf.

Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) finished tied for 26th at 3 over for the tournament.

Turning to Harry Diamond, his caddie and best friend, McIlroy told him, “This walk is a little more pleasant than last year.”

He closed with a 4-under 66 to finish four shots ahead of Schauffele, joining Woods as the only players to win the FedEx Cup twice.

“Any time you can do something that only Tiger has done, you’re doing something right,” McIlroy said.

There was so much more than $15 million – $14 million in cash, $1 million deferred – to this victory.

Regardless of the new format that gave some players a head start to par depending on their FedEx Cup ranking – McIlroy began five shots behind before the tournament started – he wanted to post the lowest score of anyone in the 30-man field.

He shot 13-under 267, the best by three shots.

And when he was paired with Koepka in the final group Sunday, it was a chance for atonement. A month ago, McIlroy laid an egg in the final group at a World Golf Championship, just like he did with Woods the year before at East Lake.

“I thought a lot about that,” McIlroy said. “I thought about the final group with Tiger last year, the final group with Brooks in Memphis a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to go out there and play well and really take it to him, and I did that.”

The final round turned on the seventh hole with a three-shot swing – McIlroy made a 25-foot birdie, while Koepka lost his tee shot in the trees and made double bogey. There were consecutive two-shot swings on the back nine, and then it was a matter of holding off Schauffele.

McIlroy was four shots ahead until back-to-back bogeys, and he was on the verge of watching his lead shrink to one when he holed an 8-foot par putt on the 16th. Schauffele had to settle for pars, and McIlroy finished with a flourish.

He was the only player to break par all four days.

Schauffele closed with a 70 to finish alone in second, which paid out $5 million.

“There was plenty of excitement today,” Schauffele said. “The heart rate was up for most of the round. I thought the course was set up really fair, and if you were in the fairway, it was gettable. And if you weren’t, it was exactly what you thought it was. It was just a lot of fun.”

Justin Thomas, the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup who started with a two-shot lead, lost his way Sunday morning in the conclusion of the third round when he took triple bogey on the 16th hole with a 9-iron from the fairway. He fell four behind and never caught up. Thomas finished with two birdies for a 68 and tied for third with Koepka, who ended another big year with a pedestrian closing round of 72.

They each earned $3.5 million.

As usual with Koepka, there were no complaints, no excuses.

“He just played better,” said Koepka, who hit only five fairways in the last round. “He was impressive to watch. He put it in the fairway a lot, hit a lot of greens. And even his short game, the up-and-down he made on 11, that was pretty tasty right there. And then the way he finished it off was very impressive. Hats off to him.”

What looked to be a shootout turned into a runaway for McIlroy.

The marathon final day – 31 holes for McIlroy and contenders – began with big promise for a wild chase for the $15 million prize. Four players took turns atop the leaderboard in the first 35 minutes of golfSunday morning, which included Schauffele’s first hole-in-one of his career with a 5-iron on the 240-yard ninth hole.

The third round had been suspended Saturday after lightning struck a tree and injured six spectators huddled nearby. Police said they were treated and released from medical attention later that night.

Koepka birdied the 18th for a one-shot lead over McIlroy and Schauffele. It was tight for the first hour of the final round, and then it turned quickly.

Koepka was still up by one shot when he yanked his tee shot into the trees left of No. 7 and never found it. He made double bogey, and it became a three-shot swing when McIlroy made a 25-foot birdie putt.

The decisive moment was consecutive two-shot swings – McIlroy birdied Nos. 12 and 13, Koepka missed short par putts on both.

Koepka ended the PGA Tour season with three victories, another major at the PGA Championship, a World Golf Championship and the undisputed No. 1 world ranking. He is the favourite to win PGA Tour player of the year again, though McIlroy at least gave players something to contemplate when they vote over the next few weeks.

The FedEx Cup counts as an official win, giving him three for the year. And he had 14 finishes in the top 10 out of 19 starts, the highest percentage of his career. Whether it’s enough – McIlroy doesn’t think so – was of little consequence.

McIlroy ticked off every goal he set at East Lake in a performance that $15 million can’t measure.

“I’m going to enjoy this one tonight,” he said.

Full results can be found here.

Canadian golf journalist Adam Stanley catches up with Kyle Hayhoe and CP ambassador Lorie Kane to discuss overcoming congenital heart defects and the impact of CP Has Heart.

Aurora, Ont. – Canadian Pacific (CP) is proud to announce this year’s CP Women’s Open, hosted at Magna Golf Club, has delivered the largest donation in the history of Canada’s women’s open championship.

Earlier today, a $2.2 million cheque was presented to the SickKids Foundation. These funds will go towards upgrading a Cardiac Operating Suite at SickKids. The total contribution to SickKids is the result of several fundraising efforts, all under the CP Has Heart program. Through CP Birdies for Heart, CP contributed $5,000 for each birdie made by a player on the 17th hole during tournament play. Fans were also able to pledge a donation amount or per birdie donation to be matched. A total of 43 birdies represents a $215,000 donation. CP also supported the tournament host community this year with a $250,000 donation to Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ont. to support paediatric cardiac care.

Jin Young Ko beat out 155 other women to become the 2019 CP Women’s Open champion and take home US$337,500 of the US$2.25 million purse, one of the largest purses on the LPGA Tour.

“I would like to congratulate every golfer, fan and volunteer for their contribution to this year’s CP Women’s Open,” said CP President and CEO Keith Creel. “It was a tremendous week of golf, but more importantly, together we have made a significant contribution to SickKids Foundation and to Ontario, a key province in our network. CP is proud to continue to make a difference in communities across Canada through our community investment program, CP Has Heart.”

“We are incredibly grateful that CP, Golf Canada and the CP Women’s Open have chosen SickKids Foundation as their beneficiary this year,” said SickKids Foundation CEO Ted Garrard. “It’s been a remarkable partnership and we thank all supporters involved, on and off the golf course, for their generosity. Funds raised from the tournament will continue to help cardiac patients at SickKids receive world-class care.”

In the six years of CP’s title sponsorship of the CP Women’s Open, more than $10.5 million has now been raised to support children’s heart health in Canada. The 2019 tournament marked the third time in six years that southern Ontario has hosted the CP Women’s Open, resulting in more than $5.5 million donated in the province: London (2014 – $1.3 million), Ottawa (2017 – $2 million) and Aurora (2019 – $2.45 million).

The 2020 CP Women’s Open will be played on the West Coast, at Vancouver’s Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, from August 31 – September 6, 2020.

At the CP Women’s Open, we’re reminded of the many reasons why it’s great to be an Audi owner.

TSN recaps Thursday’s opening round from Magna Golf Club.

Click here for tickets.

At just 12 years old, Vancouver’s Michelle Liu became the youngest ever to tee it up at the CP Women’s Open.

Click here for tickets.

AURORA, Ont. – Canada’s Brooke Henderson is quite comfortable in the role of defending champion.

She showed why during a strong opening round Thursday morning at Magna Golf Club.

Henderson fired a 6-under-par 66 for a two-shot clubhouse lead on South Korea’s Amy Yang, Australia’s Su Oh and England’s Georgia Hall with several players still on the course.

With impressive length off the tee and a putting stroke that was reliable, the 21-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., displayed the same form that carried her to victory a year ago in Regina.

“It’s nice to be in a position where I had a good round, everything seemed to go right for me,” Henderson said. “Hopefully I can continue to stick to my gameplan, make a lot of birdies, and I would love to be in this position on Sunday.”

Hall, who started on the 10th tee, had four birdies over a seven-hole stretch. Her lone bogey came on the par-3 eighth hole.

“I didn’t really look at the leaderboard,” she said. “It’s just the first round and there’s a lot of rounds left to play. All it is is a good start, but I’m very happy with it.”

Australia’s Minjee Lee and American Jessica Korda were in a large group at 3-under 69. American Stacy Lewis and South Korea’s Jenny Shin were another stroke back at 70.

Cool, breezy conditions greeted players with morning tee times like Henderson, who has successfully defended titles on two occasions over her LPGA Tour career.

The 6,709-yard course has wide fairways and sets up nicely for big hitters. Henderson, who’s ninth on the Tour in average driving distance, gave herself opportunities and took advantage.

“For me when I’m playing well, (it’s) my ball striking, hitting a lot fairways, greens, and then just hoping I’m making some putts too,” she said.

Henderson said she felt calm on the first tee as dozens of supportive fans lined the block area. She crushed her opening drive and was on her way to a solid front nine that included four birdies.

Her lone hiccup came on the 399-yard, par-4 fourth hole after her drive found a bunker. Henderson, who settled for bogey, missed only one other fairway on the day and hit 16 of 18 greens.

“I just tried to keep things really simple,” she said. “When I showed up this morning it was really cold and windy and I was like, ‘Uh oh.’ But in the back of my head it was also sort of like Sunday last year, so I figured it might not be a bad thing.”

Henderson closed with a 65 at Wascana Country Club in 2018 to become the first Canadian winner of this event in 45 years.

She was rewarded for her aggressive play at that tournament, but had to be more careful here with swirling winds making club selection more challenging.

After setting up on the par-3, 167-yard 17th, Henderson returned to her bag and had another chat with her sister and caddie Brittany. With a tough pin position behind a greenside pond, Henderson decided to play it safe by landing on the right side of the green and then two-putting for par.

Henderson pulled her drive on the 18th hole but rebounded with one of her best shots of the round. With a favourable lie in the rough, she elevated the ball nicely, cleared a bunker in front of the green and stuck the ball within four feet.

She hit the birdie putt to the delight of the partisan gallery.

“All the birdies pretty much fell for me today, which is a great feeling,” Henderson said. “It’s going to be hard to back up. Hopefully I’ll go out and keep hitting it well.”

Henderson has won nine career LPGA Tour events, a record for Canadians on the PGA or LPGA Tours. She’s sixth on the LPGA money list this year.

Fifteen Canadians and 96 of the top 100 money winners on the LPGA Tour this year are in the field at the US$2.25-million tournament. The winner will earn $337,500.

The 156-player list will be trimmed to low 70s and ties after Friday’s second round. Favourable weather conditions were expected through the weekend.

Unlike last year, domestic television coverage is available for all four rounds with TSN and RDS picking up a simulcast of the Golf Channel feed.

However, only three hours of coverage are provided each day. The early afternoon cutoff on Thursday came just before Henderson finished her round.

The 2018 tournament was the first year in recent memory that a Canadian sports network did not broadcast the event or pick up the simulcast.

When Henderson led after 54 holes last year, Bell Media and Golf Channel reached an agreement to allow Canadian viewers to watch the last three hours of the final round.

To sum up the 2019 Golf Fore the Cure (GFTC) at the Petitcodiac Valley Golf & Country Club, it had beautiful weather, great friends, a super-conditioned course, a wonderful sponsor in John Brown and Service Master Restore and of course, awesome fundraising efforts.  This year the NB Golf Fore the Cure raised $35,183.97 (with some money still coming in) for breast cancer research!  All of the donations will be forwarded to the NB (Saint John) office thereby confirming “all money raised in NB stays in NB”. Just a statistical fact from today:  In the 1960s the cancer survival rate was 25%; today breast cancer survival rate is 87%.  WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!!  Thank you for helping make this difference.

The winning team of Nicole Heppell, Darlene Comeau, Linda Daigle, and Odelie Doucet from the Lakeside Golf & Country Club won in a three-hole sudden-death playoff culminating with “closest to the pin” from 150-yard marker on #1 hole. What an awesome, exciting, and nail-biting finish!!!  It was the Woodstock team of Angela Welch, Jocelyn Keirstead, Pauline Pelkey and Crystal Brown that also shot 66 to battle for the title. Congratulations to both teams for such wonderful golf and best of luck to the Lakeside team as you journey to Mississauga, Ontario for the national event.

A special note that the Sponsor’s team of the John Brown, Don Dougherty, Daryl McCully and Judy Astle also shot a 66. The question is: did Judy carry the team? Great score, team!!

Each year the top 3 fundraising sites in Canada get an invitation to the Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru National Event, this year it is being held at the Credit Valley Golf & Country Club in Mississauga, Ontario. If the $35,183.97 total is within the top 3 national amounts than the team from Pine Needles will be packing their golf bags to play there.

A special thank you goes to Marilyn Pollock, the GFTC Tournament Chair, who along with her committee organized this whole event. Marilyn is a great person to have at the helm as she is so passionate about this tournament and always gives 110% of her efforts! Golf Fore the Cure NB is so fortunate to have Marilyn Pollock as their leader!

Magna Golf Club superintendent Wayne Rath (and canine sidekick) on keeping the course in stellar condition ahead of the 2019 CP Women’s Open in Aurora, Ont.

Click here for tickets.