Kiwis Danny Lee finished strong to claim a top 20 finish as Jon Rahm took out his second PGA Tour win in as many starts this year at The American Express in California.
Lee shot his best round of the week on the final day with a seven-under 65, thanksto eight birdies and just one bogey, to finish in a tie for 16th on 21-under for the tournament.
Rahm took advantage of mistakes by rookie Davis Thompson over the adventuresome final three holes and closed with a four-under 68 to win The American Express by one stroke.
The Spanish star pumped his right fist and flashed a look of relief after tapping in for a two-putt par on No 18.
They were tied with three holes to play when Thompson, who led through 36 holes and shared the lead with Rahm going into the final day, pulled his drive into a deep fairway bunker on the par-5 16th and wound up with par. Rahm made birdie to take the lead.
On the par-3 17th, Thompson chose to leave the pin in for his 50-foot birdie putt on the island green, and the ball squarely hit the pin and rolled away. The 23-year-old from Georgia dropped his putter and put his hands to his face. As he walked to the 18th tee after tapping in for par, he pulled his shirt up over his mouth in frustration.
Rahm hit his tee shot into the bunker on 18 but recovered nicely with a shot to 15 feet and pumped his fist. Thompson’s drive found the fairway but his approach bounced on the green and ran down the slope behind it. The rookie hit a bold flop shop that settled a foot to the right of the hole. He shot 69.
Rahm had two putts to finish at 17-under 261 and win for the ninth time on the PGA Tour. He moves up one spot to No 3 in the world. He is playing next week at Torrey Pines, while world No 1 Rory McIlroy makes his 2023 debut in Dubai on the European tour.
Rahm opened with two birdies to take the lead, but Thompson eventually caught up to him when Rahm’s par putt lipped out on No 13.
Rahm got his share of breaks. From the middle of the fairway on the 16th, Rahm had his hands on his hips as he watched his second shot head toward the deep bunker down the left side. It hit in the dormant rough and stayed in the fairway. That left a pitch to just inside 10 feet, and his birdie putt for the lead swirled into the cup.
Rahm now has won four of his last six starts — he won the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii to start the year, and he won twice on the European tour at end of last year. This was his seventh straight top 10 worldwide, a streak that began after the Tour Championship in late August.
Xander Schauffele, two weeks after he withdrew because of back pain, closed with a 62 and finished two behind with Chris Kirk (64).
Taylor Montgomery was challenging Rahm and Thompson until he put his tee shot into the water on the 17th. He closed with a 66 and finished fifth.
Scottie Scheffler closed with a 67 and tied for 11th. He narrowly missed a birdie putt on the final hole that would have allowed him to return to No 1 by a fraction of a point over McIlroy. Scheffler is not playing next week.
Second for Alker
Steven Alker. Photo / Getty
On the PGA Tour Champions, Steven Alker continued his fine run of form over the last two seasons to begin 2023 with a second placing at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
Alker, the defending Schwab Cup champion, shot a nine-under 63 to jump up 10 places and finish in a share of second, five shots behind winner Steve Stricker.
Alker had a final round 63 which included nine birdies. Expect more Alker and Stricker battles throughout the season as they both continued their hot form from 2022.
Stricker now has 12 career wins on the PGA Tour Champions, the same number of titles he has on the regular PGA Tour.
He finished at 23-under 193 and earned US$340,000 for the lead in the Schwab Cup.
Stricker did not start last season until May as he recovered from a health scare that included inflammation around his heard and caused him to drop 25 pounds as his white blood cell count to spike and his liver count to plunge.
He still won four times, closing out his season in October by winning three of his last four, and then sitting out the Schwab Cup playoffs during hunting season.
“I’m going to play a little more,” Stricker said. He turns 56 in February and still wants to play the occasional PGA Tour event to see how his game measures against the best.
“It’s still fun to compete with the best in the world, but I’m going to concentrate out here, playing as much as I can,” he said. “It’s a good start.”
Hillier and Fox off the pace
On the DP World Tour, Daniel Hillier finished 46th and Ryan Fox was 65th as the best shot of Victor Perez’s life set up likely the biggest year of the Frenchman’s golfing career.
Perez span a bunker shot back into the hole for birdie at No 17 and celebrated wildly on the way to shooting 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory at the Abu Dhabi Championship, earning him his third and easily biggest European tour title.
“It was probably the greatest shot I’ve ever hit,” Perez said.
That wasn’t the end of the drama in a crazy finish at Yas Island Links.
Two strokes clear when teeing off at the par-5 18th, Perez drove into a fairway bunker, hit his second shot nearly into the water and two-putted for a bogey.
Min Woo Lee, playing in the group behind, needed an eagle at the last to force a playoff and his third shot raced just past the hole then rolled slowly back down the hill to settle within a foot of the cup. Only then could Perez, watching the television in the scorer’s hut, truly celebrate winning around $1.5 million at one of the tour’s top events.
It could be a life-changing victory for Perez, who climbed into second place in Europe’s Ryder Cup qualification standings. A captain’s pick for the contest with the United States outside Rome looks likely at the very least.
