Spoiler alert! (on the off chance that anyone has recorded the tournament and doesn’t want to know the outcome…)
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These players know their stuff. They thought 14 under would be the number, and the winner ended at minus 13, after shooting 67 in a final round where the field average was 73.1!
The rough was thick, the breeze up and the greens lightning-fast, so 5-under was a superb round for the winner Max Homa. He was actually on the PGA Tour in 2015 after graduating from the Web.com tour, but didn’t keep his card. This win may be enough to push him back to the big show when all is said and done this year. Everyone, from the Tour officials to the players and caddies couldn’t say enough about how much they liked the course.
I walked with Martin Flores, who is number 11 on the Web.com money list and Zack Fischer, who’s lurking just outside of the top 25 who get their PGA Tour cards when the season is over.
2nd hole, Fischer putting for birdie from just off the green. Close, but no cigar:
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj573/Zcd1/b0e663c6-fce9-4a10-89f2-5cf4d48f229b_zpsk7vrkozy.jpg
12th hole, Flores putting for bogey. (3-putt - ugh):
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj573/Zcd1/8bfa2900-7355-4975-8089-e34eb4d5e0b9_zpsljd0pvll.jpg
Flores shot 75, and Fischer a gritty 73, with a spectacular approach at the 18th to about 2 feet to set up a closing Birdie. Flores stuffed his approach to about 4 feet, but missed his putt.
Check today’s pin placement on 18 - about 6 feet from the edge of the green, and maybe 15 feet from the water:
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj573/Zcd1/IMG_7447_zpsvukjs2af.jpg
3rd round leader Josh Teater came to 18 needing a par to tie Homa and force a playoff, but pushed his shot just slightly to the right and it bounced off the bank into the water. He got up and down for his 5, but finished 2nd. Double ugh.
All in all, it was a great tournament, and I had a blast - can’t wait to do it all over again next year!
PS: Despite this tour being a “…smoke show”, the course record was not matched, and remains unbroken…maybe next time…;D