After back-to-back victories to start the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Bryson DeChambeau cooled off considerably, finished T-19 and 19th in the last two legs. He wasn’t much better at the Ryder Cup, where he failed to register a point as a rookie in France. Some much-needed time off served him well, as DeChambeau returned to action this week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and fired rounds of 66, 66, 65 and today’s final-round 66 to claim a one-stroke victory over Patrick Cantlay.
“I was just coming out here to try and kick rust off and was able to play some good golf,” DeChambeau said. “Didn’t putt my best, but was still able to get it done. Pretty proud of that. Put in a lot of hard work with my team.”
The win is the fifth of DeChambeau’s career, and his fourth in the past five months, a remarkable stretch that began with a win in a playoff at the Memorial Tournament in June. His next two wins at the Northern Trust and the Dell Technologies Championship were a little less stressful, unlike today in Las Vegas, where DeChambeau needed some late-round heroics to finish it off. After playing his first 10 holes in three-under par, he made five straight pars beginning at the 11th, but then slammed the door with a 57-foot bomb for eagle at the par-5 16th. Two straight pars to finish capped off a back-nine 33 that secured the victory.
Cantlay, the defending champion, posted a six-under 65 that featured nine birdies and three bogeys, putting him one shot out of a playoff at 20-under 264.
Sam Ryder shot the low round of the day, a nine-under 62 that got him to 19-under 265, good enough for third alone. It’s his second finish inside the top four in just three events this season (T-4 at Safeway). Rickie Fowler, Abraham Ancer and Robert Streb tied for fourth at 17-under 267.
What. A. Putt. 🦅
@B_DeChambeau takes the lead with an eagle at 16.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/R8aIoDRrSr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 4, 2018
The rookie season of Cameron Davis on the US PGA Tour continues to gather momentum after a strong finish at TPC Summerlin.
With this week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic the last start for Davis before returning to Sydney to defend his Emirates Australian Open title, banking some crucial FedEx Cup points in Vegas will make his start to 2019 just that little bit easier.
Beginning the final round in a tie for 40th, Davis stumbled with a bogey at the second hole but turned two better to the card courtesy of a run of three straight birdies starting from the par-3 fifth – putts of 15, nine and 24 feet snaking their way into the bottom of the cup.
Three birdies on the back nine and a bogey at the long par-3 17th saw Davis sign for a four-under 67 and a climb of 12 spots on the leaderboard to be the best of the Aussies in a tie for 28th.
Eyeing off a top-10 finish at the start of the day, New Zealand’s Danny Lee dropped to a tie for 41st due to a final round of one-over 72, a double-bogey at the 17th doing major damage late in his round.
Matt Jones (T-57), John Senden (T-66) and Rod Pampling (72nd) all qualified for the weekend rounds without ever getting into contention.
