Rory McIlroy Wins the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am With a Back-Nine Blitz for His 27th PGA TOUR Title

Rory McIlroy waited until his first PGA TOUR start of 2025 to remind everyone what the best version of him looks like. On Sunday at Pebble Beach, it looked like a six-hole stretch nobody in the field could touch.

McIlroy shot 6-under 66 to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at 21-under 267, two shots clear of Shane Lowry. Lucas Glover (67) and Justin Rose (68) tied for third at 18 under. Russell Henley and Cam Davis shared fifth, and 54-hole leader Sepp Straka faded to a 72 and a tie for seventh. It is McIlroy's 27th PGA TOUR title, worth $3.6 million and 700 FedExCup points.

A Front Nine Full of Trapdoors

The first nine holes were a reminder of how fast things can turn at Pebble. McIlroy and Lowry both birdied the par-5 2nd, McIlroy after a delicate 50-yard pitch over a bunker to a back pin that left him 2 feet. Lowry three-putted the 3rd from long range, and McIlroy briefly had the lead to himself.

Then the 6th started eating people. Rose's tee shot went over the cliff. Tom Kim's second shot tumbled down the hill toward the ocean. Lowry's second went over the cliff too, and he made bogey. McIlroy did not take advantage, three-putting for par. He made a 12-footer for birdie at the 7th, gave it back with his only bogey of the day at the 8th, and walked to the 10th tee tied with Lowry and Straka.

Six Holes in 5 Under

The 10th is where the tournament flipped. Playing into a stiff breeze, McIlroy rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt to retake the lead, and he never gave it back. At the par-3 12th, he hit his tee shot to 8 feet and converted.

The 14th was the knockout. For the third straight day, McIlroy took his driver over the tree and the bunker complex guarding the corner of the 571-yard par 5. On Friday and Saturday that line only produced pars. Sunday, he followed it with a 7-iron onto the green and holed the eagle putt from just outside 25 feet. The lead was four. A wedge to 3 feet at the 15th added another birdie.

That is six holes, 10 through 15, played in 5 under on the back nine at Pebble Beach on a Sunday with a tournament on the line.

"To win at one of the cathedrals of golf is really cool," McIlroy said, per the AP.

Lowry Makes Him Earn It

To his credit, Lowry refused to go quietly. After the mess at the 6th, Lowry played the back nine in 31, with five birdies over his last eight holes. The chance to really make McIlroy sweat came at the 17th, where Lowry missed a 7-foot birdie putt that would have cut the margin to two with one hole left. Lowry birdied the 18th anyway to finish alone in second.

McIlroy laid up at the last and two-putted from 30 feet for par. The tap-in sealed it.

Lowry's reaction summed up what it is like to chase McIlroy at his best. When McIlroy shows up with that game, Lowry said, he is "pretty impossible to beat."

Glover, who closed with 67, put it more simply. "When he's good, he's great. And when he's not great, he's good," Glover said.

The Rest of the Leaderboard

Rose's 68 had a bit of everything: four birdies, two bogeys and an eagle at the 18th, plus that tee shot over the cliff at the 6th. Henley closed with 67 to tie Davis at 17 under, and Kim tied Straka at 16 under.

Straka, chasing his second win of the season, never found the closing burst that bailed him out on Saturday. The 72 left him five shots back.

Scottie Scheffler finished his season debut with a 67 to tie for ninth at 15 under alongside Billy Horschel and Taylor Pendrith. For a player who spent the offseason recovering from minor hand surgery, a top 10 at Pebble is a perfectly respectable restart.

What It Means

The numbers attached to this one are big. McIlroy's 27th TOUR win moves him to 21st on the career victory list, per the PGA TOUR. It is his second Signature Event title, after Quail Hollow last year, and his first win in California since the 2015 WGC Match Play in San Francisco. He finished one shot shy of the tournament record, per the TOUR. He has now won at least one PGA TOUR event in eight straight seasons, according to Sky Sports.

McIlroy also offered a peek at the mindset he brought to Sunday's finish.

"I said to Harry (Diamond, his caddie) walking up the last, start as you mean to go on," he said.

The schedule ahead is loaded. McIlroy has not won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, and the Masters, the one major missing from his résumé and the last piece of a career Grand Slam, is two months away. The Open returns to Northern Ireland this summer, and the Ryder Cup at Bethpage looms in the fall. Next up is Torrey Pines.

"It's a really cool way to start the season," McIlroy said, adding that he hoped to keep the momentum going there.

On a week with two aces, a three-shot 36-hole lead that disappeared and a Saturday out of the Crosby era, the best player at Pebble Beach was the one who saved his best six holes for last.

Catch up on the week in our Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 recaps. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's final-round recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (final-round recap, points and payouts, leaderboard), AP, Sky Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.