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Rory McIlroy raced past Rickie Fowler and held off a final round charge from Collin Morikawa to win the CJ Cup on Sunday at The Summit Club in Las Vegas. 

McIlroy finished with a four-day score of 25-under par to win by one shot over Morikawa and three shots over a resurgent Fowler. 

“This is what I need to do. I need to play golf, I need to simplify it, I just need to be me. For the last few months I was trying to be someone else to get better, and I realized being me is enough, and being me I can do things like this,” said McIlroy after the round. 

This is the 20th win of McIlroy’s win.

For Fowler, the loss is a heartbreaker. 

The Northeast Amateur alum entered the final round with a two shot lead and in search of his first win in more than two years. 

However, a double bogey on the par-5 sixth hole cost him dearly, and he never recovered. 

Despite the loss, Fowler had his best finish in a long time and things are beginning to look up for him.

“He’s close, he’s not that far away. I think everyone has seen how he played this week. Obviously, things did not quite go his way today, but I was keeping an eye on him, Rickie is a close friend, and I want to see him do well, so I was keeping an eye on him. You know, the 5-iron he hit into 11 was all I needed to see, he hit an awesome 5-iron into 11 and to play a shot like that in the final round, with some pressure, and having a chance to win, I think that means his game is coming around,” said McIlroy. 

He still has a long way to go to qualify for the Players Championship and The Masters.

McIlroy’s Win

McIlroy made four birdies not he front-nine, then made a four-foot birdie on the 12th hole to give him a lead. 

Then, on the par-5 14th hole, McIlroy rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt from off the green to give him a three shot lead over Fowler and Morikawa at the time. 

Morikawa would make and eagle on the 18th to get to 24-under for the tournament, but McIlroy would hang on to win.