Thomas wins Dell for fifth title of ’17
NORTON, Mass. — Justin Thomas added another big title to a season filled with big moments by outlasting Jordan Spieth and Marc Leishman on the back nine of the TPC Boston to win the Dell Technologies Championship on Monday.
Two shots behind at the turn, Thomas surged ahead with a short birdie and a 6-foot par save while limiting the mistakes that cost his challengers. He closed with a 5-under-par 66 for a three-shot victory that was much tighter than the margin suggested.
Spieth wasted a start that riled up the Labor Day crowd — birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie — with too many mistakes on the back nine. He fell out of a share of the lead by missing the 14th green with a 5-iron from the fairway. Needing an eagle on the par-5 18th to stay in the game, he pushed a 4-iron into a tough lie in the bunker, blasted over the green, and closed with a bogey for a 67.
Spieth was runner-up for the second consecutive week in the FedEx Cup playoffs, although that was enough to move up to No. 1 in the standings with one more event before the $10 million prize is decided at the Tour Championship.
Leishman shot 30 on the front to build a two-shot lead, only for it to vanish with five bogeys on the back nine. He finished with a 70. In other golf news: • Kevin Chappell made his first Presidents Cup team by a fraction of a point, and he needed a lot more help that he realized. Chappell earned enough FedEx Cup points from the Dell Technologies Championship to secure the 10th and final automatic spot on the U.S. team. Rounded off, Chappell and Charley Hoffman finished with 4,369 points. Stretched out to include decimals, the PGA Tour said Chappell beat Hoffman by 0.073. This was the final qualifying event for the Presidents Cup, which starts Sept. 28 at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J.