Sonic youth

Golf Betting Lines

05/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rory McIlroy would have to wait two days to properly celebrate the defining round of his young career.

Had he been at home in Northern Ireland, he might have popped a cork Sunday night. Standing in the sun in Charlotte, however, the most he could legally look forward to was a celebration on Tuesday night at Sawgrass, site of the upcoming Players Championship.

"If I was back at home, I'd be having a good one tonight," McIlroy said.

The 20-year-old with the curly brown locks set a course record Sunday with a 10-under 62 in the final round of the Quail Hollow Championship, becoming the youngest winner on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods in 1996.

With one foot on the pedal and another on the course's neck, McIlroy made an impossible six consecutive 3s to finish the final round, posting a 30 on the back nine to beat Phil Mickelson by four shots.

He finished at 15-under 273, winning his first PGA Tour title in only his 18th start. Not bad for a player who made the cut on the number Friday at one-over par.

"A 30 on the back nine to win is just fabulous. He's an amazing talent," said Mickelson, who also won as a 20-year-old on the PGA Tour, though he was an amateur at the time.

"You knew [McIlroy] was going to come out and win out here. He's won all other places in the world at 20 years old. It's remarkable," Mickelson said. "He's some kind of player."

Indeed, it was a future-is-bright kind of weekend for young golfers.

Many hours before McIlroy captured one of the biggest non-major events in the men's game, 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa fired a 12-under 58 to win an event on his home Japan Golf Tour.

It was the lowest score ever recorded on a major golf circuit.

McIlroy read about Ishikawa's score before he began his round at Quail Hollow and joked that he was "just trying to keep up with" the young Japanese star.

"He's a great player," McIlroy said, "and obviously with myself winning today as well, it looks good for the future."

Meanwhile, as Lorena Ochoa played her final tournament before retirement, a number of young LPGA Tour stars vied for a piece of her spotlight in Mexico.

It looked like 20-year-old Michelle Wie might capture her second victory and the unofficial title of "The New Face of Women's Golf." But it was Japan's Ai Miyazato, instead, who closed with a 67 on the Tres Marias course to win Ochoa's farewell event.

Miyazato, who is 24, won for the third time in five starts this season and for the fourth time in her last 14 starts.

With Ochoa stepping away after dominating the game for four years, Wie and Miyazato represent two likely candidates to take over the reigns and steer the tour through a lean year.

Which is a good thing. Because if the No. 1 player in the women's game is going to enter early retirement for the second time in three seasons, the least the golf gods can do is offer us young and exciting replacements.

Ochoa, 28, didn't technically get her wish to retire as the No. 1 player. As it turns out. Jiyai Shin, the 2009 LPGA Rookie of the Year, knocked her out of the top spot by .09 points after winning in Japan on Sunday.

But the rankings weren't out by the time the Mexican star spoke Sunday, and Ochoa considered that proof that she retired on top, saying: "Today, I am still No. 1." (Fine with me.)

Many of the players gathered to see Ochoa off to a party, including some of her closest friends on the LPGA Tour. They autographed a caddie bib, which was presented by Miyazato.

"She's one of my best friends," Miyazato said. "I'm going to miss her."

As for the men's No. 1? Woods missed the cut in Charlotte -- only the sixth time he's done that as a professional. Missed it by eight shots with the worst 36-hole score of his career.

I suppose for karmic reasons, it was appropriate that he sit home on the weekend while others were playing a round.