McIlroy Edged Out At PGA Long Drive Contest

The PGA Championship is fighting an uphill battle when it comes to finding its foothold with the other three major championships. The Masters has Augusta National and Bobby Jones; the U.S. Open has the course set up and the moniker of America’s national championship; and the Open Championship has the tradition, the courses and the setting. The PGA’s answer to all that is the revival of its Long Drive Contest.

The PGA of America resurrected the event in recent years to bring some light-hearted fun to the practice rounds early in the week. This year, Rory McIlroy stepped up as one of the first groups off on Tuesday and piped a drive 345 yards that stood up for the majority of the day even as the course dried out.

At 345 yards, your new Long Drive Competition leader, @McIlroyRory! pic.twitter.com/gVIvod673o

— PGA.COM (@PGAcom) July 26, 2016

While other bombers either came up short or missed the fairway, McIlroy was in line to claim the silver money clip that’s awarded to the contest winner, but it wasn’t meant to be. Ben An stepped up and nipped McIlroy by two yards and took home the hardware.