ON THE SUNNY SIDE
Daly’s closing double bogey sends Canadian to first Champions title
THE WOODLANDS — It wasn’t until the third day of the Insperity Invitational that a round was completed. But when the tournament went full bore, a Texas shootout ensued.
Front and center Sunday was John Daly. But Mike Weir was in the mix as well. And when Daly put his approach shot in the water on the finishing hole for double bogey, it pretty much secured the first victory on PGA Tour Champions for the Canadian.
At 10-under 134, Weir, 50, won by two shots over Daly, David Toms and Tim Petrovic on The Woodlands Country Club Tournament Course.
“Life’s good, and my game’s showing up,” said Weir, who carded rounds of 66-68 in the tournament, which was shortened to 36 holes because of adverse weather. “I’ve had a couple close calls, and I was making it hard on myself.”
Sunday was a long day for the golfers, who did not complete the first round of the scheduled 54-hole tournament until Sunday morning.
Daly came out firing from the start. The 2017 Insperity champion led or shared the lead for most of the back nine, finishing with a finalround 3-under 69. He was at 5 under before closing with the double bogey.
“It was a great day,” Daly said. “I didn’t miss too many shots. Made a lot of putts, a lot of par-saving putts. I played great both days. The putting is great. At least I can leave here knowing that my stroke feels good.”
Daly, who had only one
bogey on his scorecard following 17 holes of play, looked poised to pull out the win the way he was hitting shots. He hammered his tee shot for great position on the 18th hole. A gust of wind for his second shot on No. 18 left the ball short of the green, derailing Daly’s shot of victory.
“I (usually) hit a 9-iron from about 155, and I hit a 9iron from 141 there. I caught a gust and just got a bad break,” said Daly, who is sporting a white beard. “I can’t hit the ball any better.”
It was an ever-changing leaderboard, with Weir and Daly separating themselves late in the round. When Daly, playing one group ahead of the final threesome of Weir, Toms and Petrovic, eagled the par-5 13th hole to go up by two at 10 under, Weir followed by making eagle on the hole.
Weir positioned himself for the eagle to stay even with Daly by hitting a highfade 7-iron that landed three feet from the hole.
“It was the prettiest shot I’ve hit in a long time,” said Weir, winner of the 2003 Masters. “It just never left the flag.”
Weir, who needed only 59 putts over 36 holes, had a target score of 12 under for the winner. He didn’t need to reach that mark to grab first place.
“I felt if I could get to 12, that would probably win, 11 might be close, and ended up being 10,” Weir said. “I had that number in mind, so I was shooting for that number.”
When Weir reached the 18th tee box, he was co-leader with Daly. After Daly hit his second shot in the water, Weir still played aggressively and pulled out the driver. His tee ball was well placed.
“I drove the ball really well today,” said Weir, who did have three bogeys in Sunday’s second and final round. “I hit one poor tee shot on the front nine on the par 5, but other than that, I hit the driver fantastic, so I didn’t want to back off that.”
Petrovic was the co-leader with Toms at 7 under at the conclusion of Sunday morning’s first round. Both made a charge, but it wasn’t enough. Petrovic led early in Sunday’s second and final round before stumbling during a stretch as he dropped three shots over five holes. Toms and Petrovic shot 1-under 71 for the final round.
Bob Estes shot his way into contention with a finalround 4-under 68, getting within one shot of the lead at 7 under. Estes bogeyed the final hole to finish 6 under, sharing fifth with fourtime Insperity winner Bernhard Langer (69-69), Jerry Kelly (68-70) and Olin Browne (67-71).
Jim Furyk (69-70) and Retief Goosen (68-71) shared ninth at 5 under.
After Friday’s first round was postponed, not one of the 81 golfers completed the first round Saturday. They finished their opening round Sunday morning.