PGA Tour – Hyundai Tournament of Champions

The view from the top looks as spectacular as ever for Jordan Spieth.

He was standing in the 18th fairway Sunday at Kapalua, his victory in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions easily secured, when his thoughts were interrupted by a comment from caddie Michael Greller: "Way to make a statement."

The statement was nearly as big as his eight-shot victory.

Coming off a year that Spieth knows will be tough to match -- the Masters, U.S. Open, five wins, the FedExCup -- the 22-year-old Texan backed up his sage comment at the start of the week that 2016 wasn't about an encore because that would mean the show was over.

It's not.

Spieth crushed the winners-only field by closing with a 6-under 67 to become only the second player in PGA TOUR history to finish a 72-hole tournament at 30-under par or lower. An 8-foot birdie on the final hole put him at 30-under 262, one short of the record Ernie Els set at Kapalua in 2003

"I thought that was cool," Spieth said about his caddie's comment. "It's not what I'm going for. It's not why I do what I do. I don't do it to talk back to any people that believe it's not possible or 'He got a lucky year' or something."

And then he paused with a smile and added, "But I still think it's going to be very difficult to have a year like last year."

This one could not have gotten off to a better start.

Staked to a five-shot lead, Spieth made two straight birdies around the turn to restore his margin, and he spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up sights of the sun and surf on Maui. The view of him at No. 1 in the world only looks daunting to the guys trying to catch him.

Patrick Reed got within three shots before he stalled on the back nine and Spieth poured it on with a combination of great shots and smart shots. It was like last year never ended, and that's what Spieth wanted.

"I felt like it was short three-week break and continue what we were doing last year," Spieth said. "That's the way I'll keep on thinking about it. It worked this week. All parts were firing."

http://www.pgatour.com/daily-wrapup/2016/01/10/hyundai-toc-round-4.html

Sunshine / European Tour – BMW South African Open Championship hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni

It took as much sacrifice as anyone would want to make, and when Brandon Stone sank the putt which won him the BMW South African Open Championship proudly hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni, he sank to his knees over the hole and he didn’t care who saw him weep.

“I don’t have the vocabulary to describe my emotions,” he said. “It feels a little bit surreal. I’m just trying to savour what I can and feel what I can – right now, I’m on top of the world.”

He carded a final round of one-under-par 71 for a tournament total of 14-under-par 274 to hold off rookie Christiaan Bezuidenhout by two shots, with England’s Daniel Brooks in third place a further stroke back. Veteran and two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen shared fourth with Justin Walters, Branden Grace and Keith Horne.

“I didn’t just get back from a holiday and come and win this,” said Stone. “People don’t know that I flew to Durban on New Year’s Eve to spend her birthday with my mother, and then flew back early the next day to practice again. This win has been two-and-a-half years in the making.”

He made things difficult for himself during the final round: When he made his second birdie of the day on the fourth hole, he had opened up a yawning five-stroke gap over Brooks and he should have coasted home.

Instead, he made three bogeys in a row, and suddenly, he looked in danger of slipping right off the leaderboard. “I lost my swing off the tee,” he said, “but I never doubted that I could still win the tournament.”

http://sunshinetour.com/?p=24981