Thomas wins fifth tournament of year
By The Associated Press
Justin Thomas beat Australia’s Marc Leishman on the second playoff hole Sunday to win the inaugural CJ Cup in Jeju, South Korea, and cap his breakout year on the PGA Tour.
Thomas sealed his fifth PGA title in 2017 — and his first of the new 2017-18 PGA season — when he birdied the second extra hole and Leishman made bogey after finding the water.
The pair went to a suddendeath playoff after completing the first U.S. PGA Tour regular-season event in South Korea tied at 9-under 279.
Thomas, who shared the overnight lead with Scott Brown, fell behind when he had a double bogey on the 550-yard par-5 No. 3 hole.
“I just kept telling myself it was a bad golf swing,” Thomas said. “It wasn’t a mental error or wasn’t a wrong judgment that we made but just a bad golf swing at a pretty bad time but I knew you are going make bogeys out here today.”
Thomas regained the lead and looked set for the win in regulation until he bogeyed No. 17, a 195-yard par 3 hole. But he made amends with a birdie at the last to join Leishman in the playoff.
“I really played some great golf after the third hole but it’s just such a long day with these conditions,” Thomas said.
European Tour
Tournament host Sergio Garcia won the Andalucia Valderrama Masters after shooting 4-under 67 in the final round. It was the Spaniard’s sixth win on home soil and his second title at Real Club Valderrama.
He won the Andalucia Masters at this venue in 2011. Garcia finished 12 under, one stroke ahead of Joost Luiten of the Netherlands.
“Joost played unbelievable. I played really well and I felt like maybe I could get away and he just kept coming back and back and made it an amazing match,” Garcia said. “I stayed patient the whole time, I made sure the bad moments did not affect me too much and made a couple of really key putts coming in.”
Garcia, 37, won the Dubai Desert Classic in February before he clinched his first major at the Masters in April. He dedicated his 14th European Tour win to his wife, Angela Akins, and the baby they are expecting in March.
LPGA Tour
Eun-Hee Ji fired a 7-under-par 65 to win the Taiwan Championship for her first LPGA title since the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open. Ji, who had a six-stroke lead heading into the final round, carded seven birdies to finish at 17-under 271, six strokes ahead of Lydia Ko, who also closed with a 65.