For the record
get it done, I was just very excited.”
For much of the day it was a virtual dead-heat among five players with Tommy Fleetwood and Webb Simpson also taking turns in the lead. Bogeys on the backside dropped Fleetwood to a fourth-place finish at 6-under and Simpson to a tie for fifth with Byeong Hun An, who matched the best round of the day at 65.
Noren, a native of Sweden who lives in Jupiter, posted his second top-three finish in four events.
Tiger Woods finished a respectable 12th at even-par after closing with a 70.
They call the tricky threehole gauntlet on the back nine the Bear Trap in honor of Jack Nicklaus, but it was the Tiger Trap this week.
Woods got to 3-under by sinking an 18-foot birdie putt on 14 to move into a tie for sixth. Then he strolled into the Bear Tap and plunked his tee shot into the water well short of the green on 15. That led to a double-bogey that effectively sunk his hopes for a late rally.
Another bogey on 16 left him with five bogeys and two double-bogeys in the Bear Trap for the tournament.
After wind played havoc on scores in the first three rounds, particularly Thursday and Friday, the Champion Course lost its teeth in much calmer conditions.
Signs that this might be different than the first three rounds came when players in the morning, low in the standings, began posting birdies in bunches. As it turned out, some of the best scores of the day came from players without pressure to do so.
Stuart native Derek Fathauer, tied for 54th place after 54 holes, closed with a 65, equaling the best round of the tournament.
Argentinian Emiliano Grillo, who started the round at 2-over, birdied four of the first six holes and completed the front nine in 30 and climbed all the way to an eighth-place finish with a 66 that lifted him to minus-2.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone. Rory McIlroy had a brutal finish with a classic Bear Trap misadventure when he hit two balls in the water on 17 and took a seven on the way to finishing the tournament 9-over.
Most of the day, the focus of the crowd was mainly on Woods, while Thomas and List were largely an afterthought until the playoff.
“To be honest, I don’t care,” said Thomas, who earned $1.2 million for the win. “I’m sitting with the trophy, so I’m fine with it.”