Rory McIlroy did everything he thought he needed to win the HSBC Champions, and then Xander Schauffele made him do a little more.
McIlroy delivered all the right shots in a playoff Sunday, hitting 4-iron to 25 feet for a two-putt birdie to beat Schauffele and win for the fourth time this year. It was McIlroy’s third World Golf Championships title, and first since the Match Play in 2015.
McIlroy played bogey-free on the weekend and closed with a 4-under 68. Schauffele, battling the flu all week, birdied the par-5 18th for a 66 to force a playoff in his bid to become the first repeat winner of the HSBC Champions.
But his tee shot went left on the 18th in the playoff, in thick rough next to a bunker. He had to lay up, and he missed a 12-foot birdie putt.
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