Holmes rallies from four down at Genesis Open
J.B. Holmes rallied from a four-shot deficit in the final round and won a marathon finish Sunday in the Genesis Open in Los Angeles for his first victory in three years and a trip back to the Masters.
Holmes closed with a 1under 70, and that was enough to overcome Justin Thomas, who took 19 putts on the back nine at Riviera — three of them from 8 feet when he lost the lead for good — and shot 75.
“I knew it was going to be very difficult to shoot a low score,” Holmes said. “I needed some help from Justin.”
They played 34 holes because of a seven-hour rain delay at the start of the tournament Thursday, and that wasn’t even the worst of it.
The final day featured a wild shift in weather, from sunshine in the morning to complete 16 holes of the third round, brief rain when they teed off in the final round and wicked wind that made it tough to hole putts.
There were three twoshot swings on the back nine, all because of putting.
The biggest moment was on the 13th hole, when Holmes was one shot behind and made a 12-footer for par.
Thomas, who had lagged his birdie putt from 65 feet to 8 feet from the cup, three-putted from there for a double bogey to fall one shot behind.
He three-putted the next hole to fall back further, made an 8-foot birdie on the 16th to get with one but couldn’t catch up.
Tiger Woods shot 65 to finish his morning third round, though he was never in range of winning. Woods closed with a 72 in the afternoon, and tied for 15th.
Nelly Korda won the Women’s Australian Open in Adelaide to add to her family’s impressive sports pedigree Down Under. Her father, Petr Korda, won his lone Grand Slam tennis title in the 1998 Australian Open. Her older sister, Jessica Korda, won the Women’s Australian Open seven years ago. Her brother, Sebastian, won the Australian Open boys’ singles title last year. Korda, who went into the final round at The Grange Club with a three-shot lead, stretched it to as many as five. “I’m just happy to finally be a part of the club,” said the 20-year-old Korda. “There’s maybe something in the air here. We love coming down under and we really enjoy our time here.”
PGA Tour Champions
Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Chubb Classic for his seventh PGA Tour Champions title, beating Bernhard Langer and Olin Browne with a 5-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff in Naples, Fla. Jimenez closed with a 5-under 66 at The Classics at Lely Resort to match Langer and Browne at 13under 200. Langer shot 68, and Browne had a double bogey on the par-4 18th in regulation for a 66. Jimenez has won in each of his six seasons on the 50and-over tour.
European Tour
Ryan Fox of New Zealand won his first European Tour title with a 3and-2 victory against Adrian Oategui of Spain in the final of the World Super 6 in Perth. Fox was 8under par in 54 holes of stroke play to earn a bye into the six-hole matchplay portion of the event in Australia.