Warning: You are about to see the most amazing eagle putt for victory that anyone could ever conceive. If you cannot wait to read the final tour summary below, here it is.
All right. Whoooooooooo. Props to you, HV3. Now, let’s pretend that we didn’t see that spoiler, and continue on with this week’s Tour Rundown. It has been a rotten week emotionally for men’s professional golf, so a tip of the hat to the class with which the ladies handle controversy. We’ve witnessed greed, petulance, and complete detachment from reality, from competitors and journalists alike. Here’s hoping that it all subsides, and removes itself from the headlines, because …
the golf is great. Five tours showcased the wonders of golf from the middle east to Florida, to California, to central America. Tournaments were decided by utter domination and last-shot heroics. We still don’t know what to do with Bill Murray, but that’s a matter for another day and rundown. Let’s rev it up with this week’s Tour Rundown, brought to your from five spots around the globe.
PGA Tour: AT&T Pro-Am tastes great to Hoge
Nothing suggested that Tom Hoge would win on Sunday. He led with 63 on Thursday, and everyone knows it ain’t easy for the greats to go wire-to-wire, much less the journeymen. Hogey stood second to Seamus Power after day two and, honestly, that might have been the notion that won for the former TCU golfer. As Power faltered on day three, Hoge returned to the top spot with 68, tied with Beau Hossler and Andrew Putnam. Of the three, Hoge would probably have been no one’s pick to claim the trophy.
Chasing them all were Patrick Cantlay, he of the Ryder Cup heroics last fall, and the resurgent Jordan Spieth, he of the cliff’s-edge daring-do on Saturday. Cantlay stood minus-three on Sunday through six holes, but played the final twelve in plus-two, and finished tied for fourth. Spieth stood at 18-under par on the 17th tee. Instead of the par-birdie finish that everyone predicted for the Texan, he finished bogey-par to finish solo second.
And Hoge? Well, try a four-under, inward half on for size, and you’ll discover that it fits the winner like a glove. Hoge flourished where others faltered, with birdies at 11, 14, 16, and 17. He was able to play the last hole safely, made par, and raised his first PGA Tour trophy.
LPGA: Drive-On Championship is maiden for Maguire
There are some tournaments that, they say, do not begin until Sunday’s back nine. Leona Maguire made certain that this would not be the case on Saturday in Fort Myers. Like a solid European Football squad, whose core is its midfield, Maguire tore up the stretch from seven through thirteen in five-under numbers. She left co-leader Marina Alex in the rearview mirror, and kept fast-charging Lexi Thompson at a distance with exquisite execution. In the end, Thompson could only make up two shots with her Sunday 65, as Maguire closed with bogey for 67, long after fate had decided matters.
The title was the young Irish lass’s first on the LPGA circuit, after two 2019 wins on Triple-A Symetra (now known as the Epson Tour.) Maguire and Alex started in 131 strokes through 36 holes, but Alex lost three shots to her partner in the first 14 holes of the final round. Needing to close with fury, Alex went the other way with a plus-two closing stretch. Her drop from 1st to 4th-tie was frustrating, but suggests she’ll contend a bit in 2022. As for Maguire, what was predicted for her as a young amateur may be about to bloom.
Korn Ferry: Panama Championship is Young’s first big win
For those who struggle with adversity, allow Carson Young to present your TedTalk this week. Young began the 2022 KornFerry Tour season with two missed cuts in the Bahamas. In his third start of the young season, Young delivered a majestic performance and claimed the Panama Championship by one stroke over a triumvirate of pursuers. The Clemson alum began day four in fifth place, chasing third-round leaders Stanger, Taylor, and Fischer. Throughout the fourth round a number of other challengers jumped into the fray, but we’ll get around to that in a bit.
Jimmy Stanger hung around until the end, finishing one shot out of first. He tied Brandon Matthews and Carl Yuan for second, after closing with a two-under inward half. Both Ben Taylor and Zack Fischer struggled a bit more over the final round. Each posted a two-over 72 to drop into fifth position. Matthews earned the distinction of posting four rounds in the 60s, but none of them was low enough to vault him into the top spot. A topsy-turvy inward half of three birdies, a bogey, and a double kept him a bay. Carl Yuan posted birdie at holes 15 through 17 to make a late run. He was unable to add a fourth consecutive stroke-saver, and matched Matthews and Stanger for runner-up position.
DP World Tour: Ras al Khaimah Championship sees the rise of Højgaard N.0
Of all the 2022 story lines in their infancy, the Danish twins is so far, the most compelling. Set the stage like this: Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard are twenty years of age. Each has now won multiple times on the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour. Rasmus has won each of the last three calendar years, with triumphs in Mauritius, the UK, and Switzerland. Brother Nico now joins him with a multi-year streak of his own. After a debut title in Italy in 2021, Højgaard N.1 secured a mighty triumph in the UAE this week.
Højgaard began the final round with a slim lead over Scotland’s David Law. The Englishman regained the lead at the turn, as the two alternated spectacular golf with clumsy execution. Højgaard had an eagle and a double through nine, while Law tossed birdie and eagle against bogey. On the inward half, Law bled slowly, with bogey at 11 through 13, and another at 16. He finished in solo 5th position.
Jordan Smith of England stepped up, and seized a two-shot advantage over Højgaard through his 14th hole. His bogey at 15 proved his undoing, as he was unable to summon additional birdies, and finished at 20-deep. Højgaard N.0, meanwhile, steadied his nerves and exploded with three birdies and another eagle over the final sextet of fairways and greens, to reach 24-under par and a four-shot cushion for the trophy.
Asian Tour: PIFSI ends with heart-attack special for HV3
There are some events, however, that don’t actually begin UNTIL THE LAST TWO HOLES! Bubba Watson closed birdie-eagle to reach 12-under par on Sunday. High fives and handshakes, right? Two-shot advantage over third-round leader Harold Varner III, who had two holes left himself. Except, of course, that Varner made birdie at 17 to trim the lead to half. Birdie at the last would force a playoff between HV3 and Bubba. Unfortunately, Varner could not birdie the last … HE MADE EAGLE and that was how it ended. Unbelievable finish for a first important title for the Akron, Ohio native.
To say that Varner was feeling the pressure on the inward half is an understatement. The Tres hit one out of seven driving fairways, so the big club was not his friend. Despite the wayward tee shots, he managed to hit six of nine greens in regulation. When on board, he was four under par. When not putting for birdie, bad things were happening. Double bogey at 11 and bogey at 14 threatened to undo all of his great work through 63 holes. And then came the final act.
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