Wells Fargo Recap: McIlroy Destroys Quail Hollow

Rory McIlroy shot a course-record 61 to win the Wells Fargo Championship on Saturday. The PGA tour decided to continue playing on Sunday because of a contractual obligation to CBS -- after all, Nick Faldo had to awkwardly give a cake to birthday boy Jim Nantz -- and to tie up some loose ends, such as who will finish second, FedEx Cup points, etc.

McIlroy came back on Sunday after that 11-under-par, third-round assault on Quail Hollow to shoot 69, officially scoring a seven-shot victory over club member Webb Simpson and former Stanford star Patrick Rodgers. The margin of victory is a record for the tournament, as is the 72-hole total of 21-under 267, a whopping five strokes better than the previous best set by Anthony "Remember Me?" Kim in 2008.

McIlroy of course is the world No. 1, and decidedly more worldly and more number oney ever since Jordan Spieth threw down the gauntlet at the Masters last month. The 21-year-old's major championship vaulted him to No. 2 in the world and set off a wave of rivalry-for-the-next-decade talk. Since then, McIlroy has won the WGC-Match Play Championship, tied for eighth at The Players Championship while Spieth missed the cut and now won in Charlotte for the second time in his career.

"Everything is firing on all cylinders for me," McIlroy said.

Really?

"The golf course just sets up really well for me," McIlroy said.

You don't say?

If they ever pitted McIlroy and Spieth in a golf version of a steel cage match, and for that matter threw in Rickie Fowler for a mini battle royal, the longer the match went the more we'd see McIlroy's prime advantage: his length. He averaged more than 320 yards off the tee during the week, including a 364-yarder on Sunday. He hit 55.4 percent of fairways (31 of 56), tied for only 19th, but when you put that length and that accuracy together, you get just what we saw this week: everyone else playing for second place.

On top of that, McIlroy was unhappy with his putting at The Players, so he sought out putting guru Dave Stockton for a tuneup. Stockton said he fixed what was amiss in three minutes.

We won't see McIlroy in the States for a while now. His next two starts come on the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championship and his beloved Irish Open. Enjoy it while it lasts, PGA Tour pros. McIlroy will be back next month, for the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, where everyone else may again be playing for second place.

MONDAY TAKEAWAY

Patrick Rodgers

First off, go pick up Rodgers in your league unless you've already been beaten to the punch. ... The 22-year-old former college star has not found immediate stardom on tour, as did Spieth. But he may be finding it now. Rodgers won a Web.com Tour event earlier this year and is now on the precipice of earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the rest of 2015. Had he finished solo second at Quail Hollow, he'd have earned enough money. But Rodgers played the last two holes in 3-over, slipping into a tie for second with Simpson. Still, he needs only a solo 62nd at Colonial next week to secure his card. Rodgers, based on his top-10, also qualified for the Byron Nelson in two weeks. Did you pick him up yet? Of course, there are no guarantees, but it's not every day you get a chance to pick up a difference-maker midseason. Spieth was just such a player two years ago.

Webb Simpson

This was a home game for Simpson, and he notched his best finish of the season. But he began the day within four of the lead, and he did next to nothing to make playing partner McIlroy's day a difficult one. This was Simpson's best finish in two and a half months, but it's hard to envision this jump-starting his season to bigger and better things.

Phil Mickelson

Remarkably, Mickelson found himself tied with McIlroy as they made the turn on Saturday. That means he lost nine strokes to the eventual winner over the final 27 holes. But don't feel too bad for Mickelson; he still tied for fourth with Gary Woodland and Robert Streb, continuing to show positive signs. He tied for second at Augusta and missed the cut at Sawgrass before heading to Quail Hollow, and his owners should expect more wild swings from Mickelson, both literally and figuratively.

Gary Woodland

Woodland has two top-5s and two missed cuts in his last four starts, including T4 at Quail Hollow. The most interesting takeaway from Charlotte was that he was first in the field in strokes gained-putting, at 2.484. Woodland's driving distance was only 29th for the week at an average of 303.6 yards, but if he's going to putt like he did, taking his foot off the pedal on the tee won't hurt him.

Robert Streb

Streb was an early season surprise, winning the McGladrey Classic and collecting four other top-10s by February. Then his first child was born, and he started missing cuts with nothing so much as a top-40. But in the last two weeks, Streb tied for 30th at The Players and tied for fourth at Quail Hollow. That can mean only one thing: His daughter is now sleeping through the night. Seriously, Streb is still 10th in the point standings and his owners may be seeing the start of a second wind.

Geoff Ogilvy

Ogilvy said last week that he had reduced his schedule in the first portion of the season in an effort to be fresher for the second part. Sounds like a plan. The Aussie tied for seventh at Quail Hollow, and that after double-bogeying 18 on Sunday. It lifted him from 159th in the point standings to 136th, and gave him his two best finishes of the season in a row, after T24 at The Players.

Henrik Stenson

After beginning 2015 with three straight top-four showings, Stenson was considered a Masters favorite until getting run down with the flu the week of the tournament. Still, he managed a T19. Since then, he was T34 at the Match Play, T17 at The Players and now T58 at Charlotte. A lot of players would relish those showings, but for the world No. 3, you have to start wondering whether that ill-timed illness has derailed his season.

Adam Scott

Scott began the week saying that the Olympics don't matter to him, and he's not planning to play when golf returns to the Summer Games next year. If he continues to play like he's been playing, that decision will be made for him. Scott missed the cut on the number in Charlotte, and now hasn't had a top 30 since tying for fourth in his first start of 2015, the WGC-Cadillac Championship in early March. That sure looks like an aberration in the rear-view mirror. Scott sits 109th in the point standings and, with his putting in shambles, it's hard to see how things get much better. Unless ... paging Stevie Williams?

Jim Furyk

Furyk was a cut machine during his winless drought. In recent weeks, he MCed at the Masters, then won the RBC Heritage and again missed the cut this past week. It's not exactly like a deal with the devil but, Furyk owners, are you happy with your guy finally getting another win in exchange for some weekends off?

J.B. Holmes

Holmes was the defending champion but missed the cut. Since winning in Houston the week before the Masters, he's been leaking oil, missing the cut at Augusta, tying for 51st at The Players and now this. Holmes also tied for ninth at the Match Play, but you've got to wonder if, as the tournaments are getting tougher with deeper fields, Holmes' magical start to 2015 is beginning to fade.