Rory McIlroy Beats Max Homa, Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang in Capital One’s ‘The Match 9’

Capital One’s The Match 9 belongs to Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy defeated the four-golfer field of Max Homa, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang on Monday at the Park Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, in the first iteration of the event that featured both PGA and LPGA stars.

The victory came in something of an overtime, as McIlroy hit it closest to the pin on the bonus hole after four straight carry-over ties to end the competition.

While previous editions of The Match featured teams and athletes from other sports such as Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and Patrick Mahomes, this year’s was a 12-hole skins match under the lights that featured every golfer for themselves.

Everyone but McIlroy made their Match debut, as the four-time major champion teamed up with Tiger Woods to face Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in 2022.

The format was new for even him, though, as the skin values, which were donated to charity, were as follows:

It was the women who set the tone early with Zhang tying Homa on the first hole with a birdie and Thompson draining an incredible eagle putt from just off the green for the first skin and the carried-over $200,000 on the second hole.

However, McIlroy quickly recovered from falling into the bunker by winning the one-club challenge with a five wood on the fourth hole. That was also good for $200,000 after he and Homa split the par-three third hole with nearly identical tee shots.

From there, McIlroy delivered when the money increased with a beautiful approach shot from the sand to set up a $300,000 birdie on the sixth after tying and carrying over the fifth.

It was his competition to lose at that point, and he opened up a massive lead when Homa three-putted from inside 16 feet on the eighth. That gave McIlroy another carry-over hole after tying the seventh, bringing his total to $800,000 and $600,000 clear of Thompson’s second-best mark going into the big-money holes.

He built that lead while Homa was playing from the bushes and Zhang was preparing for quite the day on Tuesday:

Yet that large advantage didn’t mean anything thanks to carry-over ties on the final four holes.

That meant everything came down to a closest-to-the-pin overtime format, but McIlroy fittingly delivered with all the pressure on his shoulders. He was dialed in throughout the evening and completed the win after leading the majority of the competition.