Paul Casey wins Valspar; Canadians Conners, Hadwin finish inside top 20
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – A long victory drought on the PGA TOUR finally ended Sunday, just not the one a raucous crowd was expecting.
Paul Casey closed with a 6-under 65 and won the Valspar Championship, but only after watching from the locker room as Tiger Woods came up one putt short of forcing a playoff. It was the closest Woods has come to winning in nearly five years.
Casey, who started the final round five shots behind, ran off three straight birdies early on the back nine at Innisbrook to take the lead, and he closed with four par saves to post at 10-under 274.
No one caught him, giving him his second PGA Tour title and his first since the Houston Open in 2009.
Patrick Reed was tied for the lead and appeared headed for a playoff at worst until his approach to the 18th came back down the slope, and his 45-foot birdie putt was so weak that it rolled all the way back to his feet . He three-putted for bogey and a 68.
Woods and his massive following went dormant after an opening birdie to briefly share the lead. He went 15 holes without a birdie until he brought Innisbrook to life with a birdie putt from just inside 45 feet that died into the cup at the par-3 17th, leaving him one shot behind with one hole to play.
Woods played conservatively with an iron off the 442-yard, uphill closing hole on the Copperhead course. From 185 yards, his approach came up some 40 feet short, and his birdie putt to force a playoff was 2 feet short.
He closed with a 70 – the first time since The Barclays in 2013 that he posted all four rounds under par on the PGA TOUR – and tied for second. That was his best finish since he tied for second at that Barclays tournament, right about the time his back started to give out.
Casey had gone 132 starts on the PGA Tour since winning in Houston, though he had won five times worldwide, including the European Tour’s flagship event at the BMW PGA Championship. He had seven top 5s in the FedEx Cup playoffs over the last three years.
Someone always played better – until Sunday.
Corey Conners, the Canadian rookie who started the final round with a one-shot lead, fell back quickly after opening with a bogey on the easiest hole at Innisbrook. He shot 77 and tied for 16th.
Thanks for the thrilling run, @coreconn – ?? is proud of you!
Until the next time! ? pic.twitter.com/fWJtzGTZ1H
— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) March 11, 2018
Defending champion Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., closed with a strong 3-under-par 68 to finish tied for 12th at 4 under.
Woods looked closer than ever to winning in his remarkable return from fusion surgery on his lower back last April. Each week has been a little better. He has been a factor on Sunday the last two tournaments, and a gallery that stood 10-deep around just about every green could sense it.
He just couldn’t deliver after a two-putt birdie on the par-5 opening hole.
“I didn’t feel that sharp with my iron game,” Woods said. “I played conservatively into the green because I wasn’t as sharp as yesterday. It was one of those days I kept getting half-clubs.”
He missed birdie chances on both par 5s on the back nine, pulling a wedge into the rough at No. 11 and three-putting from 80 feet on No. 14. He missed a couple of putts in the 15-foot range. And right when it looked as though he was out of chances, he ran into the 45-foot birdie putt to keep everyone guessing.
Next up for Woods is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill next week, which he hasn’t played since winning five years ago. He is an eight-time winner at Bay Hill, and the euphoria over his return is sure to reach even higher decibels.
“I keep getting a little bit better,” Woods said. “I had a good shot at winning this golf tournament. A couple putts here and there, it could have been a different story.”
Reed will look back on one putt.
He opened with a 60-foot eagle putt that slammed into the pin on No. 1 and was never far from the lead, tying Casey with a bold fairway metal onto the fringe at the 14th that set up birdie. He was in the middle of the fairway on the 18th. He twirled his club when the ball was in the air.
And then it all went wrong.
The putt up the hill never had a chance, and when it started rolling back at his feet, Reed beckoned it with his right hand. He used a wedge on the fourth shot, knowing he had to hole it for par to force a playoff.
That left Casey the winner, finally.
The 40-year-old from England had reason to believe his hopes ended on Saturday when he hit into the water on the 16th and made double bogey, falling five shots behind. He answered Sunday with all eyes on someone else – Woods – by going out in 33, and then getting rewarded for aggressive play. He got up-and-down from a bunker short of the green at No. 11 for birdie, stuffed his approach to a foot on No. 12 and then holed a 20-foot birdie from just off the green at No. 13.
Justin Rose, among six players who had a share of the lead at some point in the final round, had back-to-back bogeys on the back nine and never atoned for his mistakes. He closed with a 72 and finished three shots behind.
Canada’s Conners carries 1-stroke lead into Sunday at Valspar
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Canadian PGA TOUR rookie Corey Conners retained the solo lead he held after each of the first two rounds, shooting a 3-under 68 to hold a one-shot lead over Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker and Tiger Woods.
Conners, who ran off birdies in the early stretches of both sides at Innisbrook, saved par from the bunker on the 17th and kept his cool when his ball moved slightly on the 18th green to finish off a par for a 3-under 68.
Now comes the hard part.
He had a one-shot lead over Woods, Brandt Snedeker and Justin Rose as he goes after his first PGA TOUR victory before a crowd rarely seen this side of a major. Thousands bordered on a delirium for just about every shot Woods hit, especially when he chipped in for birdie behind the ninth green, holed a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 10 and gave himself birdie chances inside 8 feet on the next two holes.
Woods missed them both to slow his momentum. He dropped only one shot and finished with four straight pars in his round of 67. It was his fifth straight round at par or better, his longest stretch in the same season since September 2013.
This marks the first time Conners has held the 54-hole lead/co-lead in 21 career starts on the PGA TOUR. Before this week, Conners’ best position after any round on the PGA TOUR was T21 after the first round of The Honda Classic two weeks ago (T59).
A win from Conners following fellow Canadian Adam Hadwin’s victory at the 2017 Valspar Championship would mark the first time in PGA TOUR history that two different Canadians won the same event in back-to-back seasons (Mike Weir won the Genesis Open in 2003 and 2004).
Another birdie moves @coreconn to -10 ???? pic.twitter.com/9RnB9pQQu6
— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) March 10, 2018
Conners, who came into the week as third alternate, received his spot in the field when Kyle Stanley withdrew. He learned of his spot in the field after shooting a 71 in the Monday Qualifier, which would not have been enough to play his way in.
Tiger Woods was right in front of him Saturday, and Conners could hear the roars all afternoon.
“Loud. Very, very loud,” Woods said about the gallery. “I played myself right there in contention. It will be a fun Sunday.”
Conners, in only his 17th start on the PGA Tour as a pro, was at 9-under 204.
He finished with a two-putt par from 20 feet and one nervous moment. As he was taking a few practice strokes for his 3-foot par putt, the ball moved ever so slightly without him touching it with his putter. He marked it and called over an official to confirm there is no longer a penalty for a ball moving even after a player has addressed if it was clear he didn’t cause the ball to move.
He will be paired in the final group with Rose, who holed a wedge for eagle from 120 yards on the par-5 11th and followed with two more birdies for a 66.
Snedeker, coming off a sternum injury that knocked him out of golf for the second half of last year, was equally impressive as the guy in his group everyone came to see. He twice matched birdies with Woods with 12-foot putts, and after falling two shots behind and the crowd getting louder by the hole for Woods, Snedeker battled back with a pair of birdies for a 67.
He will play with Woods again in the final round.
Woods has never been so close to winning since his last victory in the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in 2013. It has been a remarkable return from his fourth back surgery, especially since he wasn’t cleared to start hitting balls until five months ago.
In his sights are a shot at his 80th career victory on the PGA TOUR and more momentum and madness as the Masters approaches.
In 10 starts this season, Conners has just one missed cut (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am). Conners made his way to the PGA TOUR this season by virtue of a 41st-place finish.
Canadian Corey Conners takes 2-stroke lead into the weekend at Valspar
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Canadian Corey Conners knew Tiger Woods had finished his second round at Innisbrook because he couldn’t see him. He was only about 50 yards from the ninth green, but there were too many fans covering every inch of grass, packed in a dozen deep because of Woods.
Woods brought the Valspar Championship to life Friday with his best round of a comeback that is building momentum toward the Masters.
Conners was happy to play a quiet round in the afternoon and wind up with the lead.
The rookie from Listowel, Ont., ran off three birdies before a careless error set him back, and he finished with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot lead going into the weekend. Right on his heels was Woods, who kept a clean card until his final hole and shot 68.
That’ll work, @coreconn ?
He leads the @ValsparChamp by 2 ??? pic.twitter.com/wtx4DkODDg
— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) March 9, 2018
Conners was on the putting green when Woods and his entourage – officials, security, media and stragglers – walked along the edge of the green, in front of another group waiting to tee off on No. 1 and toward the scoring area.
“I definitely saw that,” Conners said. “I’ve seen that the last few days as well. Pretty cool. Hopefully, I can be in a position where I get some followers Sunday.”
Until that moment, the closest Conners ever got to Woods was at the Masters three years ago when he watched him on the range. Conners played at Augusta National that year as the U.S. Amateur runner-up.
Being close to him on the leaderboard is an entirely different dynamic.
Conners was at 6-under 136 and will play in the final group with Paul Casey, who had a 68. This marks the first time Conners has held the 36-hole lead/co-lead in 21 career starts on the PGA TOUR. Before this week, Conners’ best position after any round on the PGA TOUR was T21 at The Honda Classic two weeks ago (T59).
Conners is the first player since Marc Leishman (2017 BMW Championship) to hold the solo lead in both the first and second rounds at a PGA TOUR event.
Woods and Brandt Snedeker (68) will be in the group in front of them, with thousands of fans lining the fairways and surrounding the greens.
“I don’t think this will be leading, but at least I’m there with a chance going into the weekend,” Woods said when he finished. “Today was a good day.”
Defending champion Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was five shots back.
Woods has been slowed by mistakes, some leading to big numbers. The second round at Innisbrook was all about control of his shots that rarely put him out of position off the tee and especially on the green, where he could attack putts from below the hole.
He took the lead with a drive that was heading left, struck a cart path and caromed back into the fairway on his 14th hole, the par-5 fifth. That set up a long iron into the front right bunker and a delicate shot from the sand to about 5 feet for his fourth birdie of the round.
He saved par with a 12-foot putt on No. 7 and was heading toward a bogey-free round until his wedge on the par-5 ninth rode the shifting wind to the right and into the gallery, his ball on a woman’s bag. After getting a drop, his chip came out too strong and hit the flag, leaving it only 6 feet away.
He missed the putt and didn’t seem all that bothered.
Just over five months ago, Woods still didn’t have clearance to begin hitting full shots, much less to play without restrictions. In his fourth PGA Tour event in seven weeks, he looks like a contender.
“I’ve come a long way in that span of time,” Woods said.
The energy in the gallery was enormous, especially for this sleepy tournament, and toward the end of the round the fans were looking for any reason to cheer.
“The roars are a little louder, and there’s certainly an energy about the gallery that you don’t have anywhere else,” Jordan Spieth said.
Spieth missed the cut for the second time this year. He is still trying to rediscover his putting touch, and his iron game left him in an opening round of 76. He didn’t fare much better on Friday with two birdies, two bogeys, a 71 and a phone call to get back to Dallas sooner than he wanted.
“I’ve played with Tiger many times. It’s nothing new,” Spieth said. “It kind of feels like you’re playing in a major championship in a normal round, which if anything should bring out better golf for me. I just got way off on my iron play, with putting not improving either. That’s how you shoot over par.”
Henrik Stenson, the other major champion in the group, had another 74 and missed the cut. Also headed home was Rory McIlroy, who shot 73 and missed the cut for the second time in four starts on the PGA Tour this year.
McIlroy played with Woods in December before his return and was alarmed at how good he looked. He said Woods never missed a shot when they played.
“I’d seen this three months ago,” McIlroy said. “So yeah, he’s playing great. I’d love to be here for the weekend to be in contention, but I’ll be an interested observer watching TV over the weekend, see how it unfolds.”
Casey holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th for his 68, putting him in good shape going into the weekend. Casey has gone nearly four years since his last victory.
He was on the opposite side of the course as Woods, though he could hear him.
“Feels like the old days,” Casey said.
Woods never really saw his name on the board. Whenever he glanced at the video board, it was showing Spieth or Stenson putting and their statistics. But he could sense from the crowd that everything was going his way.
“To play myself into contention this early into it was nice, and on top of that, to build on what I did a week ago,” he said, referring to the Honda Classic when he was on the fringe of contention going to the final nine holes. “I feel comfortable out there.”
Canadian Conners in lead after first round of Valspar Championship
ALM HARBOR, Fla. – Canadian rookie Corey Conners didn’t seem too bothered by the tough swirling wind at Innisbrook on Thursday.
The Listowel, Ont., native, who got into the Valspar Championship field as an alternate not long after he failed to get through Monday qualifying, didn’t make a bogey until his final hole at No. 9 and shot a 4-under 67.
That gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft. Only three other players, including former PGA champion Jimmy Walker broke 70.
Innisbrook produced the highest average score for the opening round – 72.86 – of the 23 courses used this season. But Conners managed just fine, taking advantage of a tournament he wasn’t sure he would be playing.
✅Enter as alternate
✅Shoot 67
✅Lead the @ValsparChampHave a day, @coreconn ??pic.twitter.com/C7YXp3QUoc
— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) March 8, 2018
He went through Monday qualifying and shot 71, but moments after walking off the course, he was told he got in as an alternate.
“Kind of had a mindset of trying to take advantage of a good break, I guess,” he said.
Conners, 26, was quick to thank the Canadian National Team program for its role in his development.
“I was on the development team and the amateur team my junior and amateur career. I started when I was 17, I believe, and then I turned professional a couple years ago and I’ve been a part of the young pro program up until this year…”
Conners graduated the Young Pro Squad program—an initiative put in place by Golf Canada to help the nation’s top-performing athletes in their transition to the professional ranks.
“They’re helping out some younger guys trying to get some more guys out on the PGA TOUR. That program has been amazing in the development and given me so many opportunities to train and get better. The resources that they have are awesome.”
Tiger Woods smacked his hands into an oak as he let loose of the club during a bold escape from the trees, came within inches of an ace on the next hole, and most importantly was among 27 players – just under 20 per cent of the field – to break par.
Woods made five birdies to counter his mistakes in his round of 70, the first time he broke par in the opening round of a PGA Tour event since his 64 in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 – just six tour events ago because of back surgeries.
This was his first time playing the Valspar Championship, and it got his attention.
“I enjoy when par is a good score. It’s a reward,” Woods said. “There are some tournaments when about four holes you don’t make a birdie, you feel like you’re behind. Today, made a couple of birdies, all of a sudden puts me fourth, fifth, right away. That’s how hard it is.”
It was like for everybody, especially Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
Spieth, who won at Innisbrook in a playoff in 2015, didn’t make a birdie after the par-5 opening hole and shot a 76. Only six other players had a higher score. Rory McIlroy, who like Woods was making his debut in this event, played in the morning and shot 74.
Henrik Stenson, who played with Spieth and Woods, also shot 74.
Watney holed a bunker shot on the par-4 16th, made the turn and had an eagle on the first hole.
“Maybe I need to steal a few shots here and there and get some good things going,” said Watney, winless since August 2012.
Walker (69) and past Innisbrook champion Luke Donald (70) managed to go bogey-free, a rarity on a day like this. Also at 70 were Justin Rose, Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Steve Stricker, who won last week on the PGA Tour Champions.
Last year’s champion, Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 71. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor shot 73’s and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 75.
Woods is playing his fourth PGA Tour event since returning from fusion surgery on his lower back, his fourth surgery since the spring of 2014. He has shown steady progress, and this might have been his most steady performance, even with four bogeys. Those were inevitable.
One of the came at the par-3 fourth, when he was fooled by the wind and sent his tee shot sailing. It was next to a tree that Woods had to straddle just to advance toward the green. He also came up well short on the 12th into a strong wind.
“Into the wind, it felt like you just hit walls,” he said.
Woods got within two shots of the lead by ripping a long iron from the top collar of a bunker on the par-5 11th and using the slope to chip close for a tap-in birdie. He dropped shots on the next two holes, going short into the wind on No. 12 and over the green with the wind at his back on No. 13.
The only unnerving moment came at the 16th, when he tugged his iron off the tee into the trees. Woods realized he would hit the tree on his follow through, asking the gallery – thousands of them – to be careful in case the club snapped. He had to take it toward the lake on the right and bend it back to the left, and it came off perfectly.
But it looked painful.
Because he had to generate so much club speed, his left forearm and hands struck the oak and Woods dropped the club and winced on impact.
“It didn’t feel very good,” he said.
Woods followed with a 5-iron that rolled just right of the cup for a tap-in birdie and finished with a long two-putt par after getting fooled again by the shifting wind.
“This is a tough golf course. Not too often in Florida do you find elevation. Great driving golf course,” Woods said. “I asked Henrik, ‘What do you around this golf course when there’s no wind here?’ He said it’s still a hell of a test. We can all see that.”
Mickelson ends drought with playoff win in Mexico; Hadwin finishes T9
MEXICO CITY – Phil Mickelson ended the longest drought of his career with a playoff victory Sunday over Justin Thomas in the Mexico Championship, capping off a final round of lustrous cheers in thin air that included Thomas holing a wedge for eagle on the final hole of regulation.
Mickelson, who closed with a 5-under 66, won for the first time since the 2013 British Open at Muirfield, a stretch of 101 tournaments worldwide.
“I can’t put into words how much this means to me,” Mickelson said. “I knew it was going to be soon – I’ve been playing too well for it not to be. But you just never know until it happens.”
Thomas was coming off a playoff victory at the Honda Classic last week, and he delivered the biggest moment at Chapultepec Golf Club. Tied for the lead, his shot to the 18th from 119 yards landed in front of the pin and spun back into the hole for an eagle and a 64.
It almost was too good to be true. Thomas, who said Thursday he had never felt worse over the ball, had a 62-64 weekend and suddenly had a two-shot lead.
Mickelson, who turns 48 in June, responded with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th and a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th to tie Thomas.
Tyrrell Hatton, playing in the final group with Mickelson, was stride for stride. He capped off a 3-3-3-3 stretch on the back nine with an eagle at the 15th. But on the final hole, Hatton missed the green to the right, chipped 10 feet by and missed the par putt for a 67 to fall out of a playoff.
The sudden-death playoff – the sixth in eight PGA Tour events this year – didn’t last long.
Thomas went long on the par-3 17th hole and chipped to just inside 10 feet. Mickelson’s 18-foot birdie putt for the victory swirled around the cup, more agony for a 47-year-old who has seen plenty of it since his last victory.
Thomas, however, never got his par attempt on the right line.
They finished at 16-under 268.
Adam Hadwin (66) of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a tie for ninth at 10 under.
.@ahadwingolf put up a 5-under 66 on Sunday to finish inside the top 10 @WGCMexico ???? pic.twitter.com/2fWY1K8nEe
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) March 5, 2018
Mickelson won his third World Golf Championships title and, just a month after being on the verge of falling out of the top 50 in the world for the first time in two decades, moves to No. 18 in the world.
Shubhankar Sharma, the 21-year-old from India who started with a two-shot lead, didn’t make his first birdie until the 12th hole. He finished with consecutive bogeys for a 74, six shots behind in a three-way tie for ninth. That will leave him on the bubble at No. 66 in the world for making it back to the next World Golf Championship, the Dell Match Play, in three weeks in Texas. Sharma first flies home for the Hero Indian Open next week.
Hatton tied for third with Rafa Cabrera Bello, who holed a bunker shot for eagle on the opening hole and was among six players who had at least a share of the lead.
Mickelson was the first player who appeared to seize control with a birdie on No. 10 to take the lead, and facing a reachable par 5 and a drivable par 4.
Instead, Lefty made it as entertaining as ever.
Going for the green in light rough with the ball below his feet, he hooked it deep into the bushes right of the green, and played his next one when he could barely see the golf ball. That stayed in the trees, and his fourth shot narrowly missed another tree before settling 10 feet away. He made bogey, and just like that, it was a sprint to the finish 7,800 feet above sea level.
Brian Harman and Kiradech Aphibarnrat both had chances until dropping shots at the wrong time.
Thomas made a bogey on the 17th hole twice on Sunday. He missed a 5-foot par putt in regulation that dropped him out of the lead, only to respond with the perfect shot at the right time. It just wasn’t good enough.
Mickelson, now with 43 victories on the PGA Tour and 46 around the world, made good on his pledge earlier this year that more victories were in store for him. He has four consecutive top 10s for the first time since 2005.
That also was the last time he had won in a playoff.
It all seems so long ago – playoffs, trophies, consistent play. Now he’s just more than a month away from the Masters, and feeling invigorated.
And feeling like a winner.
Canada’s Adam Hadwin sits T21 in Mexico
MEXICO CITY – Two of the European Tour’s hottest players brought their best golf to their first World Golf Championship.
Louis Oosthuizen, a world-class player for the better part of a decade, drilled a long iron into 4 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th and had birdies on two of the short par 4s at Chapultepec Golf Club for a 7-under 64 in the Mexico Championship on Thursday.
Right behind were two players unfamiliar to the world stage, though they sure didn’t play like it.
Shubhankar Sharma, the 21-year-old from India and the only two-time winner on the European Tour this season, holed an eagle chip after making the turn and finished with a wedge into 2 feet for birdie and a 65.
“I was very nervous in the morning, but very happy with the way I put it all together,” Sharma said.
Chris Paisley of England, who followed his victory in the South African Open with a pair of top 5s against strong fields in the Middle East, had his name atop the leaderboard for most of the warm afternoon until he came up short of the 16th and made his lone bogey in a round of 65.
“After the win in SA, I didn’t want to just be happy with winning. I wanted to kind of press on and that’s what I did,” Paisley said. “I’m taking that attitude into the rounds, as well. If you get defensive or you back off at all against players like you’ve got this week, then you’ve got no chance of winning.”
Sharma won his first European Tour event late last year at the Joburg Open, also played at altitude, and then last month he closed with a 62 to win the Malaysian Open. He was in Oman and Qatar before coming over to Mexico, and fatigue was hardly an issue, even walking the hilly course at nearly 7,800 feet above sea level.
?????????????????
Players representing SIX different nations are in the top 10 @WGCMexico.
Check out the highlights from Round 1. ? pic.twitter.com/mpW85GfeG8
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2018
“I’m actually relaxed now. I just wanted the first round to get out of the way,” Sharma said. “You’re always very happy when you start with such a low round, especially for me. This is such a big event. I would say this is taking some pressure off me, playing well on this course.”
Xander Schauffele also was at 65, while Rafael Cabrera Bello and Kiradech Aphibarnrat were at 66. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 1-under 70 to tie for 23rd.
This World Golf Championship lived up to its name for at least one day. The top six on the leaderboard came from South Africa, England, India, Spain and Thailand. The lone American, Schauffele, has a German father with French heritage and a mother who was born in Taiwan and raised in Japan.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson opened with a 69, the kind of round that showed that a slightly softer Chapultepec allowed for low scoring, but there were big mistakes equally available. Johnson found that out on No. 14, his fifth hole of the round. From a cluster of trees, Johnson hit one of them and knew he was in trouble when he could hear the ball go through bushes on the other side of the boundary fence.
Johnson had another shot disappear under a tower. He made six birdies for the round.
“I had some really good holes, I had some really bad holes,” Johnson said. “I felt like I was just struggling all day. But I did putt pretty well. When I did have good looks, I made them, which definitely kept my score at least respectable. The way I hit it, I probably should not have shot 2 under.”
Bubba Watson, coming off a victory at Riviera, also had a 69 and had reason to feel even worse. He was leading at 7 under until running off four bogeys in a six-hole stretch at the end of his round.
Justin Thomas didn’t carry over his best form from last week’s playoff victory at the Honda Classic. He opened with a 72, leaving him eight shots out of the lead.
“It’s probably the worst I’ve ever felt over the ball in my life,” Thomas said.
He played with Johnson and Jon Rahm, who also had enough mistakes to limit him to a 67. Rahm ran off three straight birdies early in the round, but on the par-5 15th, he drove right into the trees and had no option but to pitch out sideways. Then, he sailed his third shot over the green into the bunker, leading to bogey. He also three-putted for bogey on the front nine, though he had plenty of firepower, which was good for Mexico.
Rahm has pledged $3,000 for every eagle and $1,000 for every birdie to relief efforts from the earthquake in Mexico. One round in, the tally is $6,000. Also at 67 was Pat Perez, who celebrated his 42nd birthday on Thursday.
Jordan Spieth, who didn’t decide to play until late last week, opened with a 70.
Thomas delivers clutch moments to win Honda in playoff
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Justin Thomas nearly holed a wedge that got him into a playoff, and then hit 5-wood over the water and onto the 18th green for a two-putt birdie to beat Luke List on the first extra hole Sunday to win the Honda Classic.
Thomas closed with a 2-under 68 and won for the second time this season. He also won in a playoff at the CJ Cup in South Korea last fall.
Thomas and List matched birdies and tough pars over the final eight holes, and List appeared to have a big advantage on the par-5 18th when he hit a big drive that left him a 4-iron he hit onto the back of the green. Thomas was in the left rough and had to lay up instead of taking on the water.
He hit a wedge from 117 yards that landed a few feet in front of the hole and rolled some 6 inches to the side of the cup, settling 2 feet away. It brought to mind Lanny Wadkins stuffing a wedge on that hole to secure a U.S. victory in the 1983 Ryder Cup.
List, going for his first PGA Tour victory, blinked first in the playoff by missing his drive well to the right amid palm trees. He blasted that out left and against the grandstand, and then he watched Thomas take on the water and hit the green in two.
Thomas rapped in a 4-footer for is birdie and the eighth win of his career. It moves him to No. 3 in the world, one spot ahead of longtime friend Jordan Spieth for the first time in their careers.
“It was a hell of a battle out there,” Thomas said. “I stayed very calm all day. It feels awesome to come out on top.”
Alex Noren was tied for the lead playing the 18th and caught an awkward lie from the side of a bunker. He made par for a 67 and finished one shot behind.
Thomas and List finished at 8-under 272. It was the seventh playoff in 15 PGA Tour events this season.
Mac Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., both shot 73s on Sunday to finish in a tie for 59th at 9 over.
Tiger Woods was briefly within three shots of the lead on the front nine. He closed with a 70 and finished 12th.
Woods made that Sunday red shirt look a little brighter, at least for a while. With an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-4 eighth hole, he momentarily pulled to within three shots of the lead. That only lasted the few minutes that it took Thomas to tap in for birdie on the par-5 third.
Woods made bogey to close out his front nine, and he still was four shots behind until getting swallowed up again by the water-filled closing stretch. He put his tee shot into water and made double bogey for the second straight day, three-putted the 16th for bogey and was out of hope.
“I made a big leap this week because I really hit it well,” Woods said. “I was able to control it, especially in this wind, which is not easy to do.”
Woods led the field in proximity to the hole on his approach shots at just over 29 feet.
Not to be overlooked was Sam Burns of LSU, who last year won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top college player who received a sponsor exemption. Playing alongside Woods in such a chaotic arena, he was bogey-free for a 68 to tie for eighth. That will get him into the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook in two weeks.
Five players had at least a share of the lead. Only three of them stuck around until the end.
Webb Simpson missed the fairway on the 11th hole and had to lay up instead of taking on the water. That led to the first of three bogeys in a four-hole stretch and sent him to a 72, four shots behind. Tommy Fleetwood was tied for the lead until a three-putt bogey from long range on the 14th, and a bogey from the back bunker on the 15th. A birdie on the final hole for a 69 left him two shots behind.
Noren faded early on the back nine with a three-putt bogey on the 11th and a bad tee shot that led to bogey on the 13th. He rallied, however with birdies on the two of the next three holes and had a chance on the par-5 18th until his second shot got hung up in the thick collar of a bunker. He made par for a 67, and could only watch as List and Thomas finished with birdies.
Thomas made one more that mattered.
“This one is going to sting a little bit,” List said. “But I found a restored passion for what I do out here. I gave it my best effort on every shot.”
Conners, Hughes make the weekend at Palm Beach
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Even with a tee shot into the water for another double bogey, Tiger Woods could see the big picture in the Honda Classic.
He was four shots out of the lead going into the weekend.
Luke List delivered a round not many others found possible in such difficult conditions Friday, a 4-under 66 that gave him a share of the lead with Jamie Lovemark (69). They were at 3-under 137, the highest score to lead at the halfway point of the Honda Classic since it moved to PGA National in 2007.
So bunched were the scores that Woods was four shots out of the lead and four shots from last place among the 76 players who made the cut at 5-over 145. More importantly, he only had 13 players in front of him.
“This is a difficult golf course right now,” Woods said. “Making pars is a good thing. I’ve done that, and I’m right there with a chance.”
And he has plenty of company.
Tommy Fleetwood, who won the Race to Dubai on the European Tour last year, scratched out a 68 and was one shot out of the lead along with Webb Simpson (72), Russell Henley (70) and Rory Sabbatini (69).
Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger each shot 72 and were in a large group at 139. They were among only 10 players remaining under par.
Fleetwood laughed when asked the last time he was at 2 under after 36 holes and only one shot out of the lead.
“Maybe some junior event,” he said. “It’s good, though. These are the toughest test in golf. Generally, one of the best players prevail at the end of weeks like this. Weeks like this challenge you to the ultimate level. Whether you shoot two 80s or you lead after two rounds, you can see what you need to do and see where your game is. Because this is as hard as it’s ever going to get for you.”
The difficulty was primarily from the wind, which blew just as hard in the morning when List shot his 66 as it did in the afternoon. More aggravating to the players are the greens, which are old and bare, firm and crusty. It’s a recipe for not making many putts.
Defending champion Rickie Fowler had six bogeys on his front nine and shot 77 to miss the cut.
“It’s unfortunate that the greens have changed this much in a year,” Fowler said. “They typically get slick and quick on the weekend because they dry out, but at least there’s some sort of surface. But like I said, everyone’s playing the same greens.”
It looked as though List was playing a different course when he went out with a bogey-free 32 on the back nine, added a pair of birdies on the front nine and then dropped his only shot when he caught an awkward lie in the bunker on the par-3 seventh.
“It’s very relentless,” List said. “There’s not really too many easy holes, but if you hit fairways and go from there, you can make a few birdies out there.”
Canadians Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners are 2 over while Ben Silverman missed the cut.
List and Lovemark, both Californians, have never won on the PGA Tour. This is the third time List has had at least a share of the 36- hole lead, most recently in South Korea at the CJ Cup, where he shot 76-72 on the weekend.
“It’s kind of irrelevant because there’s going to be 30 guys within a couple shots of the lead,” List said. “It’s going to be that type of week.”
He was exaggerating – there were 11 players within three shots of the lead.
And there was another guy four shots behind.
Miss anything from Round 2?
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Woods brought big energy to a Friday afternoon that already was hopping before he overcame a sluggish start and holed a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 9 to make the turn at 1 under for his round, and leaving him two shots out of the lead. Everyone knew it just from listening to the roars.
Woods had his chances, twice missing birdie putts from inside 10 feet at Nos. 10 and 12, sandwiched around a 12-foot par save. His round appeared to come undone when he found the water on the 15th and made double bogey for the second straight day.
Then, he hit out of a fairway bunker, over the water and onto the green at the dangerous 16th hole and faced a 65-foot putt. He misread the speed and the line, so badly that it was similar to a car driving from Chicago to Denver and winding up in Phoenix. A bogey dropped him to 2 over.
The big moment was the 17th hole, 184 waters into the wind and over water. That’s where Rory McIlroy made triple bogey earlier in the day that ruined his otherwise solid round of 72, leaving him seven behind. Making it even tougher for Woods is the Brandt Snedeker hit 5-iron before him to about 6 feet. Woods got to the tee and the wind died, meaning 5-iron was too much and 6-iron wouldn’t clear the water.
He went with the 5-iron.
“I started that thing pretty far left and hit a pretty big cut in there because I had just too much stick,” Wood said.
It landed 12 feet below the hole for a birdie putt.
Thomas made 17 pars and a double bogey when he three-putted from 6 feet on No. 16. He felt the same way as Woods.
“I’m in a good spot – really good spot – going into this week,” Thomas said.
Canada’s Hughes one back after opening round at Honda Classic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Tiger Woods had what he called “easily” his best round hitting the ball, and he didn’t even break par at the Honda Classic.
Alex Noren and Webb Simpson shared the lead at 4-under 66 in steady wind on a penal PGA National golf course, and felt as though they had to work hard for it. Both dropped only one shot Thursday, which might have been as great an accomplishment as any of their birdies.
“When you stand on certain tee boxes or certain approach shots, you remember that, ‘Man, this is one of the hardest courses we play all year, including majors,”’ said Simpson, who is playing the Honda Classic for the first time in seven years.
Only 20 players broke par, and just as many were at 76 or worse.
Woods had only one big blunder – a double bogey on the par-5 third hole when he missed the green and missed a 3-foot putt – in an otherwise stress-free round. He had one other bogey against three birdies, and was rarely out of position. Even one of his two wild drives, when his ball landed behind two carts that were selling frozen lemonade and soft pretzels, he still had a good angle to the green.
“It was very positive today,” Woods said. “It was a tough day out there for all of us, and even par is a good score.”
It was plenty tough for Adam Scott, who again stumbled his way through the closing stretch of holes that feature water, water and more water. Scott went into the water on the par-3 15th and made double bogey, and then hit into the water on the par-3 17th and made triple bogey. He shot 73.
Rory McIlroy was at even par deep into the back nine when he figured his last chance at birdie would be the par-5 18th. Once he got there, he figured his best chance at birdie was to hit 3-wood on or near the green. Instead, he came up a yard short and into the water, made double bogey and shot 72.
Noren, who lost in a playoff at Torrey Pines last month, shot 31 on the front nine and finished with a 6-foot birdie on the ninth hole into a strong wind for his 66.
The Swede is a nine-time winner on the European Tour who is No. 16 in the world, though he has yet to make a connection among American golf fans – outside of Stillwater, Oklahoma, from his college days at Oklahoma State – from not having fared well at big events. Noren spends time in South Florida during the winter, so he’s getting used to this variety of putting surfaces.
“I came over here to try to play some more American-style courses, get firmer greens, more rough, and to improve my driving and improve my long game,” Noren said. “So it’s been great.”
PGA champion Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Morgan Hoffmann – who all live up the road in Jupiter – opened with a 67. There’s not much of an advantage because hardly anyone plays PGA National the other 51 weeks of the year. It’s a resort that gets plenty of traffic, and conditions aren’t quite the same.
Louis Oosthuizen, the South African who now lives primarily in West Palm Beach, also came out to PGA National a few weeks ago to get a feel for the course. He was just like everyone else that day – carts on paths only. Not everyone can hole a bunker shot on the final hole at No. 9 for a 67.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot his 67 with a bogey from a bunker on No. 9. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is even while Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., shot an 8-over 78.
Woods, in his third PGA Tour event since returning from a fourth back surgery, appears to be making progress.
“One bad hole,” he said. “That’s the way it goes.”
Tiger Woods.
Justin Thomas.
Daniel Berger.
Rory McIlroy.
Adam Scott.
Rickie Fowler.
Webb Simpson.
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It came on the easiest hole on the course. Woods drove into a fairway bunker on the par-5 third, laid up and put his third shot in a bunker. He barely got it out to the collar, used the edge of his sand wedge to putt it down toward the hole and missed the 3-foot par putt.
He answered with a birdie and made pars the rest of the way.
“I’m trying to get better, more efficient at what I’m doing,” Woods said. “And also I’m actually doing it under the gun, under the pressure of having to hit golf shots, and this golf course is not forgiving whatsoever. I was very happy with the way I hit it today.”
Woods played with Patton Kizzire, who already has won twice on the PGA Tour season this year. Kizzire had never met Woods until Thursday, and he yanked his opening tee shot into a palmetto bush. No one could find it, so he had to return to the tee to play his third shot. Kizzire covered the 505 yards in three shots, an outstanding bogey considering the two-shot penalty.
Later, he laughed about the moment.
“I was so nervous,” Kizzire said. “I said to Tiger, ‘Why did you have to make me so nervous?”’
Bubba Watson wins at Riviera for the 3rd time
LOS ANGELES – Bubba Watson ended two years without winning with his third victory at Riviera.
Watson seized control Sunday with two par putts as everyone around him was dropping shots, then pulling ahead by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 14th hole. He closed with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the Genesis Open over Kevin Na and Tony Finau, and more tears on the 18th green.
It was his first victory since he won at Riviera two years ago, rising to No. 4 in the world.
Watson showed up this year at No. 117, coming off a year filled with so many doubts that he says he discussed retirement with his wife on a dozen occasions. If anything, the only talk of retirement should be whether settle down off Sunset Boulevard.
He joined Ben Hogan and Lloyd Mangrum as three-time winners at Riviera. Hogan’s victories include a U.S. Open.
Na hit a wedge close to perfection from the worst angle on the reachable par-4 10th hole for a birdie and two-putted for birdie on the 11th to briefly take the lead. He fell back with consecutive bogeys from the trees and shot 69. Finau lurked all day. His last chance was an eagle putt on the 17th that stopped inches short of the hole.
Patrick Cantlay had a one-shot lead going to the back nine until he ran into tree trouble on the 12th and 13th holes. The UCLA alum could do no better than pars the rest of the way for a 71 to tie for fourth with Scott Stallings (68).
Phil Mickelson also was in the hunt. He was within one shot of the lead when he hit a 4-iron from a deep bunker on the 15th hole to just right of the green. But he went after birdie and watched the ball roll 20 feet down the hill, leading to bogey. Mickelson shot 68 and tied for sixth.
Coming off good weeks at Phoenix and Pebble Beach, Mickelson has three straight top 10s for the first time since 2009.
Adam Hadwin was the top Canadian. The Abbotsford, B.C., native shot his second straight 66 to finish tied with Mickelson at 8 under. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford finished even while Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., was 2 over.
Watson, meanwhile, wrapped up another fun-filled week in L.A. on and off the golf course, which included an appearance in the NBA All-Star celebrity game, where he shot an air ball from just inside the top of the key and was rejected by Tracy McGrady driving – jogging, really – along the baseline toward the basket.
Far more memorable was getting his 10th career PGA Tour victory.
“My goal has always been to get 10 wins. So many emotions going through my head right now,” Watson said, choking back tears. “You never know if you’re going to play good again. You never know if you’re going to lift the trophy.”
Watson once jokingly said he would retire if he reached 10 tour victories, though this should only motivate him more, especially with the Masters closing in. Watson already had two green jackets.
He finished at 12-under 272 and moved to No. 41 in the world, which makes him eligible for the World Golf Championship in Mexico City in two weeks.
Watson had a one-shot lead going into the final round, though this was up for grabs from the start. A week of sun made Riviera firmer than usual and penalized even the slightest mistakes, especially starting on the 12th hole when the course turns back toward the west and into the wind.
Watson hit a delicate chip from short of the 12th green to 8 feet and made the par putt on its last turn. Then, he came up short to a tough pin on the 13th, chipped to 8 feet and made it again to take a one-shot lead.
His big moment came on the 14th. Watson hit too big of a fade toward the left pin, and it came up short and into the bunker. He blasted out and watched it bang into the pin and disappear, and he pointed at caddie Ted Scott and said, “You called it.”
From there, he didn’t make any mistakes with regulation pars on the next two holes, two putts from 60 feet for birdie on the 17th and a safe par on the 18th.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson, starting the final round four shots behind after a 64 on Saturday, made a double bogey on No. 5 that derailed him. Johnson made a triple bogey on that hole in the opening round.