Rory McIlroy celebrated turning 26 by claiming his 10th U.S. PGA Tour win with victory at the World Golf Championships in San Francisco.
The World No.1 overcame American Gary Woodland 4&2 in Sunday’s final to win the title for the second time in his career.
In the past 75 years, only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have amassed 10 wins on the PGA Tour by age 26.
The Northern Irishman, who had defeated Jason Dufner, Brandt Snedeker, Billy Horschel, Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey and Jim Furyk on his way to the final, is now hoping to repeat the feat at next week’s Players Championship.
“It’s been a great week,” McIlroy, who celebrates his birthday on Monday, told reporters.
“Match play is a format that I’ve always enjoyed. I feel it’s a format that I do well in and I excel in.
“It’s really satisfying to get that first win stateside (this year), no matter what format it is, it’s always nice to get a trophy.
“And now we move on to next week (The Players Championship) and try to do it again.”
After Jordan Spieth’s astonishing victory at The Masters last month, many tipped the young American to challenge McIlroy for top spot in the rankings.
But McIlroy says the form of Spieth has inspired him to push harder in his quest to remain the best player on the planet.
“I think everyone, not just me, but everyone on Tour was inspired seeing Jordan do what he did at Augusta,” McIlroy added.
“This is the start of a nice little run of golf for me and I wanted to come out and play well and increase my lead in the world rankings, which I’ve done after this win, and keep it going.
“But it’s always nice to have people pushing you, and I feel like he’s one of the guys doing that right now.”