Rickie Fowler made it interesting Sunday for as long as it took him to make two big putts to pull away in the Honda Classic.
Staked to a four-shot lead, Fowler hit one putt into a sprinkler hole, hit a tee shot into the water and watched a big lead shrink to one over Gary Woodland early on the back nine. Fowler answered with consecutive birdie putts of 40 and 25 feet and closed with a 1-over 71 for a four-shot victory.
PGA Tour- Honda Classic
Rickie Fowler made it interesting Sunday for as long as it took him to make two big putts to pull away in the Honda Classic.
Staked to a four-shot lead, Fowler hit one putt into a sprinkler hole, hit a tee shot into the water and watched a big lead shrink to one over Gary Woodland early on the back nine. Fowler answered with consecutive birdie putts of 40 and 25 feet and closed with a 1-over 71 for a four-shot victory.
"If I don't make those putts, I've got a pretty tight race," Fowler said.
Instead, those chasing him had the biggest problems with the closing stretch at PGA National.
Fowler effectively ended it with a shot over the water to the 3 feet that stretched his lead to five shots with two holes to play. Woodland appeared to have second place wrapped up until he three-putted the 17th, and then tried to lay up on the par-5 18th and came up short into the water. He closed with another bogey for a 69. He had to share second place -- the difference of $128,000 -- with Morgan Hoffmann, who missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
Sunshine Tour / European Tour- Joburg Open
Darren Fichardt called his caddie over to help him read the putt that would win him the Joburg Open on Sunday, but in the end, he was left to his own devices as he sank the two-footer which gave him a one-shot victory at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.
After bogeying the 17th on the East course, he needed the birdie on 18 to edge one clear of Stuart Manley of Wales and England’s Paul Waring – and all three of those players punched their tickets to July’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in the latest of The Open Championship Qualifying Series which take place around the world.
“I called him over, but I noticed he wasn’t too keen to come and help me,” laughed Fichardt. “I have a new putter and a new putting grip, and I wasn’t sure what a bad putt would do under those circumstances. I was just glad that I had chipped it close enough. Actually, I just needed him there so I could blow off a little of the pressure.”
Fichardt who has been battling to rediscover the kind of form that has made him a stalwart on the Sunshine Tour and on the European Tour, which co-sanctioned this tournament, what delighted as the dust settle on his win “Geez man, it’s good to win again,” he said. “The form I have been having the last couple of months has been horrendous but I decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to play as many tournaments as I can and just get my game right. And it worked out!”
Alps Tour- Red Sea Little Venice Open
Dutch Lars Van Meijel grabbed maiden win, in Egypt. He won the Red Sea Little Venice Open with a -13 total thanks to a last round 68. Italy’s Jacopo Vecchi Fossa shared the lead with 2 holes to play but eventually dropped back to back shots on the 17th and the 18th hole.
Lars Van Meijel was in contention last week but did not succeed in lifting the trophy. This experience was for sure a precious one as he showed nerves of steel as he lead the way since the 1st hole.
Nordic Golf League - PGA Catalunya Resort Championship
PGA Catalunya Resort Championship saw the local resident Mathieu Fenasse crowned victorious after the grueling week-long competition.
A field of 132 competed in back-to-back 54-hole strokeplay tournaments over the resort’s two championship courses – the tight, strategic Tour and the dramatic, muscular Stadium layout, ranked the best in Spain by Top100golfcourses.com and Golf World magazine. Mathieu Fenasse, who partially lives at PGA Catalunya Resort, emerged victorious after a finishing tied first alongside three other players but a birdie on the first playoff hole (18th) was enough to secure the title.A field of 132 competed in back-to-back 54-hole strokeplay tournaments over the resort’s two championship courses – the tight, strategic Tour and the dramatic, muscular Stadium layout, ranked the best in Spain by Top100golfcourses.com and Golf World magazine. Mathieu Fenasse, who partially lives at PGA Catalunya Resort, emerged victorious after a finishing tied first alongside three other players but a birdie on the first playoff hole (18th) was enough to secure the title.
