Rasmus Hojgaard birdied his last three holes Sunday to win the Irish Open and hand Rory McIlroy more disappointment.
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NEWCASTLE,NorthernIreland—RasmusHojgaardbirdiedhislastthreeholesSundayfora6-under65towintheIrishOpenandhandRoryMcIlroyanotherdoseofdisappointmentbeforearaucousgalleryatRoyalCountyDown.
McIlroyhadatwo-shotleadonthebacknineuntilHojgaardputtogetherastunningchargedownthestretchtowinforthefifthtimeontheEuropeantouranddenyMcIlroyavictoryinhishomecountry.
“Unfortunately,I’mgettingusedtoitthisyear,”McIlroysaid.“Hopefully,thetideisgoingtoturnprettysoon,andIcanturnalltheseclosecallsintovictories.”
McIlroyhadapairofbogeysontheclosingfourholesthatallowedHojgaard,playingtwogroupsinfrontofhim,tochargetovictoryinstunningfashion.
The23-year-oldDanegotup-and-downfromabunkerforbirdieontheshortpar-416th,heholedabunkershotforbirdieonthe17thtotakethelead,andthenblastedoutoftheroughontothefrontedgeofthegreenforatwo-puttbirdieonthepar-518th.
Hojgaard,whostartedthefinalroundthreeshotsbehindMcIl
