PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The knock on Rory McIlroy used to be that he won his majors on soft courses. Even on Sunday, when he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy said an argument could be made that he hasn't won on courses of the highest repute. That's what made this victory a little more special.

With a 66, McIroy lifted his 27th PGA Tour title by posting a 21-under total that was two clear of Lowry (68). But it felt so much more substantial. “I’m glad Shane birdied the last to take outright second,” McIlroy said. “We’ll fly home to Florida tonight and it will make the journey so much more enjoyable.”

McIlroy had looked as though he was the player to beat from the second hole, when he hit a tough pitch from 50 yards away over a bunker to a back pin with enough height and spin to set up a two-foot birdie putt. It was after his lone bogey on the tough eighth hole where he pulled away, though, leaving everyone else in a hopeless chase.