IRVING, Texas – Jordan Spieth wasn’t sure what par was at his hometown AT&T Byron Nelson and thinks it actually might have helped him through some frustrating early holes.

There’s a reason the Masters champion was uncertain – overnight rain turned one of the signature par 4s at the saturated TPC Four Seasons into a pitch-and-putt par 3 at 105 yards for the second round Friday.

Spieth and every other early finisher within three shots of clubhouse leader Jon Curran turned in a birdie 2, and Gary Woodland had a hole-in-one when it was still possible that the easy wedge over a pond would play as a par 4. Tour officials later made the switch.

“I was able to fire at more pins, not really worry about anybody else,” said Spieth, who shot 64 – 5 under because par became 69 to put him at 6 under for the tournament. “Really actually helped because I didn’t know what score I was at when it’s a par 4, 4 par, par 3, don’t really know what it’s at.”

Curran shot 63 and was at 9-under 130 with the two-round par total at 139 instead of 140, with several contenders unlikely to finish the round because of a three-hour delay at the start. Cameron Percy was a shot back after an eagle at the par-5 seventh for a 64.

Defending champion Brendon Todd shot 68 and was 1 over for the tournament, unlikely to make the cut.

The fairway at the normally 406-yard 14th was deemed unplayable in the landing area after 5 inches of rain fell starting about midnight, pushing the total to about 17 inches in less than three weeks at the Four Seasons course. Texas officials have declared May the wettest month in the state’s history.

Muddy footprints marked the area where a dip in the fairway funneled down to a rain-swollen canal off to the right. Standing water covered the ground under some trees, about the same spot where Spieth chipped out in Thursday’s first round and ended up with a bogey.

The temporary tee box was on the fairway side of a pond that wraps around the left side of the green. Tour officials believe it was the first such alteration since the 2005 WGC-Match Play Championship, when flooding at La Costa in Carlsbad, California, temporarily turned a 467-yard par 4 into a 162-yard par 3.

“It was really tricky,” said the 21-year-old Spieth, who birdied his final three holes at Nos. 7-9. “We get up there and it’s 105 yards, but it’s off a steep upslope and really muddy. I don’t think we’ll see that, if ever, again, something like that.”

Curran, a 28-year-old rookie looking for his first PGA Tour win, shot 29 starting on the back nine, with the same boost as others on the 300-yard head start at 14. He had bogeys on the first and sixth holes to prevent a serious run at a 59 – with an asterisk of course.

“I knew it was a 105-yard hole,” Curran said. “I don’t think anybody really knew what all was going on. I think it was good that they gave us a chance to get out there and play.”

Nick Watney had a bogey-free 65 and was in a group at 7 under that included 48-year-old Jerry Kelly, who also shot 29 while starting on the back nine. Yes, he had a 2 on 14.

“I would have counted those as 1-under par 4,” said Kelly, who had the last of his three tour wins in 2009. “That’s all I got to say.”

There’s another strong change of overnight storms into Saturday, but the forecast improves considerably later in the day and into Sunday. Workers spent about six hours getting the course ready starting around 4 Friday morning and might have to do it again.

“They’ve probably not really enjoyed each night for the last month or two months,” said Spieth, who finished 16th in his first pro tournament as a 16-year-old amateur at the Nelson five years ago. “But hats off to them and hopefully they can catch a break now.”

And the players can know what par is.

Graham DeLaet was able to get through his first 36 holes. The Weyburn, Sask., native sat tied for 27th at 4-under as of Friday night.

Team Canada’s Austin Connelly was 2-under with five holes left in his second round, while Adam Hadwin was sitting on the cut line with at 1 under with three holes remaining in his opening two rounds.

IRVING, Texas – Steven Bowditch considers the AT&T Byron Nelson his home tournament _ just maybe not to the extent Jordan Spieth does.

The Australian matched his low round on the PGA Tour with an 8-under 62 on Thursday to take a two-shot lead over another Texan, Jimmy Walker. Spieth was seven shots back in his first round as Masters champion in the event that gave the Dallas player his start as a 16-year-old amateur in 2010.

Bowditch, who moved to the Dallas area 10 years ago, has made the cut just once at the Nelson _ in his debut in 2011, when he tied for 60th after a third-round 80. He didn’t make it to the weekend each of the past three years at TPC Four Seasons.

The 31-year-old missed the cut last week at Colonial in Fort Worth, which is a little farther from his home in the suburb of Flower Mound and he says doesn’t have quite the “hometown” draw as the Nelson for Bowditch’s family and friends.

“It’s starting to feel that way, to be honest. Starting to get a lot more ticket requests,” said Bowditch, whose only PGA Tour win was the 2014 Texas Open in San Antonio. “You always want to play well, but I guess it is a little more special when you have everyone around that only get to see you play golf once a year.”

The Nelson had the hometown feel for Spieth the moment he stepped to the 10th tee as a high school junior five years ago, when he tied for 16th as the sixth-youngest player to make the cut in a PGA Tour event. He returned as a rising star after his win at Augusta, frequently tipping his cap to large galleries that even cheered as he walked onto greens.

“It feels different when I tee off now versus when I was out there then,” said Spieth, who has finished second at all three Texas events this year, including Colonial. “Obviously, off the course I prepare hard for this and would like to play well and get in contention. But when I’m inside the ropes, it’s just another week. Back then, it was the biggest tournament I’ve ever played in.”

James Hahn and Dallas resident Ryan Palmer shared third at 65, and 2011 Nelson champion Keegan Bradley was in the group 66. Danny Lee aced the par-3 17th with a 5-iron from 190 yards and was tied for ninth at 67.

Defending champion Brendon Todd, playing a group ahead of Spieth, had just one birdie and shot 72.

Despite an opening birdie, the 21-year-old Spieth couldn’t get the warm greetings to escalate on a mostly sunny but soggy course that has absorbed about a foot of rain in less than three weeks. Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways.

Spieth didn’t give himself many good chances for birdie, and let a couple get away in the last three holes by missing short putts while playing with Justin Thomas, his friend and opponent in the 2012 NCAA team final when Spieth led Texas over Alabama. Thomas opened with an even-par 70.

A grim-faced Spieth tossed his putter toward his bag after not even catching the lip from 8 feet on 16, but was generally upbeat after the round.

“I just didn’t give myself enough looks inside of 15 feet today,” said Spieth, who won the Valspar Championship about a month before the Masters. “That’s the only reason I’m at 1 (under) and not better. I felt comfortable driving the ball and striking it.”

Bowditch made three putts of 24 feet or longer while shooting a 30 on the front nine and had the last of eight birdies in a bogey-free round with a 6-foot putt after a long bunker shot at the par-5 16th. His previous best round at the Nelson was a second-round 65 that helped him make his only cut four years ago.

“Probably my best putting in the way of longer putts made,” said Bowditch, whose other 62 was in the final round of the 2011 Viking Classic in Mississippi. “I typically don’t make a lot of longer putts.”

Walker, who picked up his second win of the year in March not far from home at the Texas Open, birdied four of his last five holes. All of the putts were inside 10 feet.

“I’m a Texas guy and lived here a long time, so yeah, winning in Texas is cool,” said Walker, a five-time winner who is second to Spieth in FedEx Cup points. “It was a nice finish. Good iron shots.”

Hahn, also starting on No. 10, was 6 under with six holes to play but had a pair of bogeys before a finishing birdie.

Canadians Graham DeLaet, Adam Hadwin and Austin Connelly – a Dallas-born dual citizen who is a member of Team Canada’s National Squad – were all in a tie for 33rd place after shooting 1 under.

SURREY, England – Alexander Levy of France had rounds of 66-67 to earn one of 11 spots in the U.S. Open from the sectional qualifier Monday in England.

One day after Levy slipped out of the top 60 in the world ranking that would have made him exempt for the U.S. Open, the Frenchman made 14 birdies on the Old and New courses at Walton Heath to lead all qualifiers.

The U.S. Open is June 18-21 at Chambers Bay outside Seattle.

The other players earning spots in the 36-hole qualifier were: Shiv Kapur, John Parry, Alex Noren, Lucas Bjerregaard, Jason Palmer and Marcel Siem. Tjaart Van Der Walt of South Africa had two eagles and a birdie on his final six holes that put him into a five-man playoff for the final four places. He got in along with Garth Mulroy, Thomas Aiken and Marcus Fraser.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington made bogey on his final hole and missed the playoff by one shot. Also missing by one was Peter Uihlein, who won the U.S. Amateur in 2010 at Chambers Bay.

In the sectional qualifier in Japan, Liang Wenchong led five players who earned their way to the U.S. Open. Liang had rounds of 65-65 at Kinojo Golf Club. The four who qualified were Masahiro Kawamura, Baek Seuk Hyun, Kurt Barnes and Hiroyuki Fujita.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Chris Kirk made a par-saving 7-foot putt after an errant tee shot at the 18th hole, avoiding a playoff at Colonial and winning by a stroke Sunday for his fourth PGA Tour victory.

With a closing 4-under 66, Kirk got to 12-under 268, one ahead of Masters champion Jordan Spieth, playing partner Brandt Snedeker and Jason Bohn.

After Kirk hooked his tee shot at No. 18 into the left rough, he hit his approach from 155 yards over the green. A nice chip set up the winning putt.

Snedeker, who closed with a 67, hit a similar tee shot as Kirk on the final hole and hit to 12 feet. But his birdie try, which would have been his first since making six the first 11 holes Sunday, slid past the hole and kept him from tying Kirk.

Bohn had a 63 that included six consecutive birdies on the front nine. Spieth shot 65, with a near-birdie that became a bogey at the par-3 16th hole.

When Kirk got in trouble at No. 18, Bohn and Spieth went to the nearby No. 1 tee and were hitting balls in preparation for a potential playoff.

Spieth was only a few minutes removed from a 20-foot birdie putt at the closing hole, where more than an hour earlier Bohn had a 28-footer that lipped the cup and left him lifting the putter over his head in frustration.

When Kirk made his putt, Spieth was standing near the 18th green watching.

Kirk’s victory for a $1.17 million check came at a saturated Hogan’s Alley, where the sun finally came out late in the final round after heavy rain overnight and throughout tournament week.

Kevin Na, the outright leader after the second and third rounds, shot 72 and finished in an eight-way tie for 10th at 9 under. He was part of a leading four-way tie that included Spieth after the first round.

A 54-hole leader hasn’t won Colonial since Phil Mickelson in 2008.

Spieth was making a bid to win the first of consecutive tournaments at home in the North Texas for the 21-year-old Masters champion from Dallas.

Like all week, Spieth got a rousing ovation when he got to the 18th green. That got even wilder when he finished by draining the long birdie, which was almost good enough for a playoff.

The PGA Tour’s next stop is the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, where Spieth twice made the cut as a teenage amateur.

Spieth had a 50-foot putt tracking to the cup at the 16th hole Sunday, but the ball went on the right edge and then curled 7 foot to the left. Spieth missed the comeback putt, dropping out to 10 under and out of the lead.

Like the opening round Thursday, the scheduled start of play Sunday was pushed back three hours because of heavy rain overnight. PGA Tour officials said more than 1 1/2 inches of rain fell after the third round was complete, on top of probably 8 inches or so that had already soaked Hogan’s Alley in the past few weeks.

There were no delays Friday or Saturday, though the third round included threesomes instead of twosomes along with earlier-than-usual weekend tee tees. There were also threesomes Sunday.

Bohn started the day with par at No. 1, hitting into the greenside bunker at the par 5 that is the easiest hole at Colonial. But he responded with birdie streak of six in a row, including Nos. 3-5 known as the Horrible Horseshoe because of the layout of difficulty of that trio of holes. His front-side 6-under 29 included a 36-foot birdie putt at No. 4, the 247-yard par 3.

Canada’s Adam Hadwin tied for 5th at 10 under -his best finish on Tour since his tie for 4th at the 2011 RBC Canadian Open.

FORT WORTH, Texas – The last time Kevin Na took the lead into the final round of a tournament, he faltered badly.

For Ian Poulter, though he laughs about it, there is that anonymous survey of PGA Tour players done by Sports Illustrated where he and Rickie Fowler tied as the most overrated player on tour.

Na and Poulter both have a chance to change perceptions at Colonial.

With a birdie on the 17th hole Saturday, after the pair played from almost the same spot, Na regained the outright lead for a one-stroke advantage over Poulter going into the final round at a very damp Hogan’s Alley.

“When it comes to crunch time, you’ve got to trust your stroke and just stay in the moment,” Na said when asked about a chance for his second PGA Tour victory Sunday.

At The Players Championship three years ago, Na led after 54 holes before closing with a 76. He shared the second-round leading there this month before Fowler’s victory that Poulter eluded to this week.

“Rickie went out there and obviously made amends,” Poulter said, referring to the SI survey.

Na shot a 1-under 69 on Saturday, a round that included a couple of bogeys, to reach 11-under 199. Poulter had a 68.

Poulter made a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 7 for a share of the lead at 10 under. He was still part of the lead after a sand save at No. 9, where he blasted to 6 feet from a bunker to save par.

But he dropped out of a lead after starting the back nine with a four-putt double bogey from 16 feet at No. 10. A 3-footer on his third putt doing a U-turn around the cup without going in, though he got one of those strokes back with a 6-foot birdie putt at the 635-yard 11th.

Poulter got even again with a 32-foot birdie putt at No. 15, the same hole Na two-putted from 6 feet after his approach missed the green.

“Pleased with how I played, just a little mishap there on 10,” Poulter said. “It didn’t break, and then a few more putts it took to get in the hole.”

With their golf balls close to each other on the 17th green, Poulter had a 15-foot birdie try that slid by the hole. But Na then made his 14-footer after watching no break in Poulter’s putt.

“I trusted my read, a little outside right and it turned nicely into the hole,” Na said. “It was nice because I was under par going into the last hole.”

With the leaders teeing off at 9:10 a.m., and playing in threesomes instead of the normal weekend twosomes, play was completed about 2 p.m. Saturday. That was about 3 1/2 hours earlier than usual for a weekend round for Colonial leaders.

PGA Tour officials moved up play because of the threat of severe afternoon storms. There were overcast and muggy conditions, with some light rain but no delays. Heavy rain was forecast overnight and into Sunday, with plans again for threesomes and early tee times off both Nos. 1 and 10 for the final round.

Charley Hoffman has third at 9 under after a 66. Chris Kirk, a two-time PGA Tour winner last season, had a 65 for the best round of the day and was tied for fourth at 8 under with Brandt Snedeker (66).

Defending champion Adam Scott carded his second consecutive 66 since an opening 72. He was tied for 10th at 6 under in a group that included Jordan Spieth, the 21-year-old Masters champion from Dallas playing the first of consecutive weeks at home in North Texas.

Spieth, the first-round co-leader after a 64, followed his second-round 73 with a 67.

George McNeill got off to a fast start, with four birdies on the first six holes, matching Na at 10 under after the second-round leader had already given back the stroke he earned with his 16-foot birdie putt at No. 3.

Na had a bogey at No. 5, the par 4 along the Trinity River that is the hardest hole on the course. Na hit a tee shot into the hazard and had to take a penalty drop.

McNeill, playing in the group directly ahead of Na, rolled in a 16-foot birdie putt at No. 5 and an 11-footer at No. 6 to get to 10 under. But McNeill hit his drive at No. 12 into the rough and wound up with the first of three bogeys in five holes. He was 7 under after a 69.

Canadian Nick Taylor shot a round of 68 today. Joining him in a tie for tenth place is Adam Hadwin with a round of 69.

At T17 is Graham DeLaet with a round of 67 and David Hearn carded a round of 69, sitting T62.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Kevin Na had gone 26 holes without a bogey at Colonial before his last tee shot Friday was swept away by flowing water after going into a rain-swollen drainage culvert.

Not even that could dampen Na’s second round that gave him the lead halfway through the soggy tournament.

Na took the penalty drop near the 17th fairway, and hit a blind approach shot over bleachers to the back side of the 18th green. His two-putt from 20 feet wrapped up a 4-under 66.

“A good bogey,” Na said.

At 10-under 130, Na was two strokes ahead of Ian Poulter (67) and three up on 2013 Colonial winner Boo Weekley (69).

Na also made some long birdie putts. His 30-footer off the fringe at No. 14 came right after rolling in a 22-footer at the 13th, where he broke into a dance for the rowdy fans surrounding the par 3 situated on the edge of Hogan’s Alley.

“I want to call it the Big Bird dance. … It just came out. I wasn’t really thinking about it,” the 31-year-old Na said. “You know, the crowd has been very supportive. I felt like I was from Texas.”

Masters champion Jordan Spieth, a real Texan, was alone in the lead without a bogey before losing four strokes in a two-hole span.

Spieth finished with a 73, nine strokes worse than his opening round 64 that had him in a four-way tie on top. He dropped seven strokes back at 3 under, in a crowded tie for 15th place.

“I had a goal in mind, and it was a higher score than (Thursday) given the conditions,” said Spieth, the 21-year-old Dallas player playing consecutive weeks at home in North Texas. “I wanted to no blemishes, and then we held that late through 12 holes.”

There were periods of steady rain for the morning groups, but no delays. That was after Thursday’s first round started three hours late following more than an inch of rain fell overnight.

With more inclement weather expected Saturday, including the possibility of severe storms in the afternoon, players in the third round will be grouped in threesomes instead of the normal twosomes and go off both tees Nos. 1 and 10.

The lead group of Na, Poulter and Weekley was scheduled to tee off around 9 a.m. Saturday, more than 3 1/2 hours earlier than usual for the leaders’ group at Colonial.

Heavy rain also was in the forecast Sunday.

Poulter, playing his first Colonial since 2010, had bogeys on his first and last holes Friday. His only bogey Thursday came on his last hole, costing him a share of the first-round lead.

A half-inch adjustment in his putting grip has paid off at Colonial, with only 25 putts in each of the first two rounds.

When going through boxes of pictures to find some to put on the wall in a new guest house he is building, Poulter came across one when he noticed the forefinger of his left hand was in a different spot. He first adjusted during the pro-am round Wednesday.

“It felt pretty good, and obviously it was pretty good (Thursday) and it’s continued,” he said. “It’s angled further down toward the shot. So it’s almost more parallel to the shot. … It’s probably only a position of half an inch difference to what it was, but sometimes half an inch makes a big difference on a feel.”

About the same time that Poulter rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt at No. 6 to get to 8 under, Spieth was making a bogey two holes back after he missed the green at the challenging par-3 fourth and didn’t make a 6-foot par- saver to drop to 7 under.

Spieth followed with a triple bogey at No. 5, taking a drop in the rough after hitting his tee shot way right into a hazard adjacent to the Trinity River. His approach rattled around in the upper branches of a tree before dropping about 75 yards short of the green.

With a steady rain falling, Spieth then missed a 4-foot birdie try at No. 6 and bogeyed the par-3 eighth from a greenside bunker.

“That’s kind of unlike me. It’s not something I do, compound mistakes,” he said. “I had chances to bounce back there, and wasn’t able to do it.”

 Three Canadians sat within the top-25 heading into weekend action in Fort Worth. Adam Hadwin (66) was tied for 6th, Nick Taylor (68) had a share of 11th, and Graham Delaet (68) was in a logjam of players who were tied for 25th.

FORT WORTH, Texas –  The leaders at Colonial won’t get to sleep late Saturday.

Due to the expectation of inclement weather, including the possibility of severe storms Saturday afternoon, the PGA Tour said Friday that players in the third round will be grouped in threesomes instead of the normal twosomes and go off both tees Nos. 1 and 10.

The last group Saturday is expected to start around 9 a.m., more than 3 1-2 hours earlier than usual for a weekend round for the leader at Hogan’s Alley.

Thursday’s first round started three hours late after more than an inch of rain fell overnight.

There were periodic showers for the second round Friday, though there were no delays through mid-afternoon.

Heavy rain is also in the forecast Sunday.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Masters champion Jordan Spieth got his homecoming off to a leading start with a birdie before dark.

Spieth made a 20-foot putt from just off the fringe on the final hole for a 6-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead Thursday in the rain-delayed Colonial.

“I had a few of those on the back nine, a few good looks where I knew what the putt was doing, I just didn’t match the line and speed right,” Spieth said. “I was getting a little frustrated through 17 there. I was like just one more look. … I didn’t really count (18) as a look, but maybe more like luck, and we’ll take it.”

The closing birdie, just after 8 p.m., tied Spieth with Kevin Na, Boo Weekley and Ryo Ishikawa.

There was a huge roar at No. 1 when Spieth teed off in the first of consecutive events at home in North Texas since becoming a major champion. The Dallas player’s approach at No. 18 landed just off the back right edge of the green surrounded by family, friends and plenty of fans.

“I was little frustrated to see where my ball went, but I was still was able to soak in kind of the welcoming to the 18th green,” he said. “I’m sure it will continue to grow.”

Spieth opened his bogey-free round with a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 1, then started the back nine with a 22-footer at No. 10. He had a great chance for another birdie on the par-3 16th, but a tricky 4-foot try slid by the hole.

Ishikawa, the 23-year-old from Japan, and 2013 Colonial champion Weekley also were without a bogey.

Na, whose only bogey came at No. 18 to close his first nine, curled up in a corner of the locker room and took a nap when tee times for the morning groups like his were pushed back three hours after more than an inch of rain fell overnight at Hogan’s Alley.

“Pulled off a little veteran move, took about an hour nap,” said Na, who grabbed a few extra towels, making one into a pillow, using another for a blanket and throwing another over his head. “So I felt great when I woke up.”

Na originally woke up at 5 a.m. for a scheduled 7:22 a.m. tee time.

The afternoon groups started 2 hours, 40 minutes later than scheduled, but all 122 players managed to finish before dark.

George McNeill and Ian Poulter, who shared the lead before his only bogey at No. 18, were a shot back after shooting 65.

A group of nine players carded 66s on a day when players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls hit in the fairways.

“We couldn’t have had better scoring conditions today. Just the wind died down, and you could just throw darts, and they were landing and stopping,” Spieth said. “I’d like to play golf in this weather the rest of my life.”

Also carding a 66 was Canada’s David Hearn – who topped the five Canadians in the field.

After the rain, it was an unseasonably cool with temperatures only in the mid-60s. The forecast is for warmer temperatures but more rain through the weekend.

Defending champion Adam Scott had a 72 that included three bogeys and a double bogey. He is No. 11 in the world and hasn’t won since Colonial last year in his first week after becoming the top-ranked player.

Weekley, whose last PGA Tour win was at Colonial, woke up with a stiff back Wednesday that was still bothering him when he finally teed off Thursday.

“We just tried to manage it knowing that we couldn’t hit the full shots, so we went down a club and felt like we just punched it around the golf course,” he said. “And I made some putts. Made a lot of putts actually.”

His 27 putts were a collective distance of 151 feet, 9 inches, Weekley’s fourth-best putting round on the PGA Tour. He made all 12 of his putts from inside 10 feet, but called a 15-foot par-saver at the par-3 13th one of the key moments in his round.

“I kind of chili-whomped it out there to the right side of the green,” he said. “Nine times out of 10 that balls goes in the water, but somehow it hung up and I hit a bad chip there.”

Canada’s Nick Taylor opened with a 68, Adam Hadwin had a 69, Graham DeLaet had 70 and Mike Weir had a 75.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy was more methodical than electrifying Sunday.

It was still effective.

Always in control, the top-ranked McIlroy became the first two-time winner in the Wells Fargo Championship with a seven-shot victory over Webb Simpson and Patrick Rodgers.

McIlory closed with a 3-under 69 to finish at 21-under 267, shattering the tournament record by five strokes. He entered the day with a four-stroke lead over Simpson after a course-record 61 on Saturday.

“Everything is firing on all cylinders for me,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy also won Match Play Championship two weeks ago in San Francisco and has 11 PGA Tour titles. He has six top-10 finishes in his last eight PGA Tour starts.

McIlroy won at Quail Hollow in in 2010 for his first PGA Tour title, shooting 15 under. Anthony Kim set the previous tournament record of 16 under in 2008.

“The golf course just sets up really well for me,” McIlroy said.

Phil Mickelson called McIlroy’s performance this week “impressive.”

McIlroy had another word to describe his play on the back nine.

“Boring,” he said with a laugh.

Unlike his win in 2010, McIlroy didn’t finish in a flurry by carding 3s on the last six holes. On Sunday he played the last half-dozen holes in 1-under.

Then again, he didn’t really need to shoot lights out with nobody chasing him.

“It was a more controlled run,” McIlroy said. “I feel like I’m a more controlled player these days. I’ve learned how to finish things off.”

Rodgers, playing on a sponsor exemption, was the only player to mount any type of a challenge, getting within three shots after a birdie at No. 15. But there was too much ground to make up, and he played the final two holes in 3-over and finished with a 68. Simpson shot a 72.

McIlroy almost didn’t play at Quail Hollow this week, but decided he needed to play more because he needed the FedEx Cup points after the Masters.

The win moved him into third place in the standings.

McIlroy got off to a shaky start with a three-putt bogey on No. 2 – his first in 167 holes – but quickly pulled it together. He didn’t have another bogey until the 17th hole, when he had built a seven-stroke lead and outcome was already decided.

Simpson failed to capitalize on McIlroy’s early mistake, shooting 37 on the front nine that included a double bogey on the par-3 sixth when he three-putted from 8 feet. That dropped the Charlotte resident six shots back and he was never in contention again.

“He’s our best player right now and I wish more than anything I could have shot a couple under on the front to make it more exciting,” Simpson said. “Just didn’t have it today.”

McIlroy reached 20 under on No. 12 when he knocked his approach shot from 132 yards to 2 feet of the cup for a tap-in birdie and it looked as if he might coast the rest of the way.

But Rodgers, who earned his first top-25 finish on the PGA Tour, made it interesting when he played a seven-hole stretch in 6-under par, sparked by an eagle on the par-5 10th hole. But McIlroy didn’t flinch when Rodgers drained a 15-foot putt on No. 15 to pull within three shots of the lead.

Instead, McIlroy countered by rolling in a birdie putt on his own on No. 14, moving to 21 under and regaining a four-shot cushion.

McIlroy then put an exclamation point on the win by drilling his approach shot from 145 yards to 3 feet on No. 16 for his tournament-record 27th birdie.

“I had a goal to go out there and birdie the par 5s and the two drivable par 4s and I knew if I made six birdies there was pretty much no chance that anybody could catch me,” McIlroy said. “With my length and the way I’m driving it, it’s a big advantage around here and it showed this week.”

It also helped having a big lead.

“You can pick and choose where you want to be aggressive,” McIlroy said.

Rodgers ran out of gas on No. 17 when he dunked his tee shot in the water and took a double bogey to fall seven shots back. Still, it was a solid finish for Rodgers, who earned an automatic berth in The Colonial next week by virtue of his top-10 finish.

“It has given me a lot of confidence moving forward,” Rodgers said.

Mickelson finished in a three-way tie for fourth place at 12 under with Gary Woodland and Robert Streb.