GOLF Woodland survives Phoenix Open playoff
Gary Woodland beat Chez Reavie with a par on the first hole of a playoff Sunday in the Phoenix Open.
Playing three groups ahead of Reavie, Woodland birdied three of the last four holes for a 7under-par 64 — the best round of the day — to finish at 18-under 266 at TPC Scottsdale.
“I’m kind of overwhelmed right now,” Woodland said. “I’ve played well the last five years, I think I had six second-place finishes. I just haven’t put four rounds together. That was the struggle last year.”
Woodland celebrated with wife Gabby and son Jaxson Lynn, who was born a month premature in June. They were expecting twins, but lost one of the fetuses in a miscarriage.
“For him to be here, it’s obviously a miracle,” Woodland said. “I’m just so excited to share this with him and my family. Hopefully, it’s the start of something special.”
Reavie made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th to finish at 66 and force the PGA Tour’s fourth straight playoff and the event’s third overtime finish in a row.
In the playoff on 18, Woodland hit short of the green from the left fairway bunker and chipped to 2 feet to set up his third PGA Tour victory and first since 2013.
The crowd of 64,273 made for a record weeklong total of 719,179. On Saturday, 216,818 jammed the grounds, the biggest turnout in golf history.
Ollie Schniederjans (65) and Brendan Steele (67) tied for third at 15-under.
Phil Mickelson had the fans roaring with three straight birdies, the second a 30-footer on 16. But, needing an eagle on 18 to tie Woodland, he drove left into the church pew bunker that Woodland hit into in the playoff and made double bogey. The 47-year-old Hall of Famer tied for fifth at 14-under after a 69.
Chesson Hadley (68), Matt Kuchar (67) and Bryson DeChambeau (70) matched Mickelson at 14-under.
Third-round leader Rickie Fowler (73) and second-ranked Jon Rahm (72) were six strokes back at 12-under. European Tour: Shubhankar Sharma of India won his second European Tour title after carding 10 birdies in a joint tournament-low 62 in the final round of the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Spain’s Jorge Campillo was two shots adrift in second place after a closing 68 gave him a 19-under aggregate of 269, one ahead of Ryan Fox (66) and Pablo Larrazabal (66). Briefly: Scott Langley overcame a six-stroke deficit with a 5-under 65 to win the Web.com Tour’s Panama Championship in Panama City. He finished at 7-under 273, two shots ahead of Rafael Campos (67) and Edward Loar (71). ... Simon Hawkes closed with a 68 and beat Harrison Endycott in a playoff to win the Australasian Tour’s Vic Open in Barwon Heads, Australia. Hawkes and Endycott finished at 14-under 274.