The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1. Garcia triumphs in Singapore
Spanish star takes La Quinta victory, No. 2 world ranking.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia began his 20th year as a pro by closing with a 3-under 68 for a five-shot victory at the Singapore Open. Garcia won for the 28th time in his career, this time by five shots over Satoshi Kodaira (71) of Japan and Shaun Norris (70) of South Africa.
Jon Rahm beat Andrew Landry with a 12-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole of a playoff Sunday in the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, Calif.
In fading light on the Stadium Course at PGA West, Rahm finished off Landry for his second PGA Tour title and fourth worldwide victory in a year. The 23-year-old Spaniard will jump from third to second in the world ranking behind Dustin Johnson.
“It’s hard to believe, to be honest, passing Jordan Spieth, three-time major champion,” Rahm said.
Rahm overcame surprising par-5 problems in regulation to shoot 5-under 67. Landry, playing a group behind Rahm in the final threesome, forced the playoff with an 11-foot birdie putt on the water-guarded 18th for a 68. They finished at 22-under 266.
“Tournaments like this build character,” Rahm said. “I’m just proud of myself to hit what’s probably my least favorite club, which is the 3-wood, three times in a row dead center on my line on 18 — four times if you include the regular play. To be honest, really happy the way it happened the way it did and really proud of the way I played.”
After Rahm made his birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole, Landry missed an 11-footer.
“This was a weird pin location,” Landry said. “I felt like it was hard for those balls to break and I read it perfectly the first time and the next two times we had the exact same yardage, exact same putt right there, so just hit it a little too firm and tried to take some of the break out and it actually just kind of stayed high.”
Rahm and Landry each missed chances to win on the first two extra trips down 18. Rahm’s 9-foot birdie try slid left on the first, and Landry’s 8-footer went by to the right on the second. They missed long birdie tries on the third extra hole, the par-4 10th.
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: Tommy Fleetwood successfully defended his title with a sensational back nine for a two-shot win.
The 27-year-old Englishman, who celebrated his birthday Friday, started the final round two shots behind overnight leaders Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters, and after the front nine, he was five behind Fisher in the gusty round.
Fleetwood then birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes for a seven-under 65 to finish on 22-under 266.
Fisher, 37, got off to a fast start when he made an eagle from 45 feet on the par-5 second hole and added two more birdies in his front nine. A bogey on the par-5 10th could have easily turned into a double if he had not made a 25-foot putt.
Rory McIlroy finished inside the top-five again — his eighth top-five in nine Abu Dhabi starts — in a tie for third with Matthew Fitzpatrick, four shots back.
Singapore Open: Masters champion Sergio Garcia began his 20th year as a pro by closing with a 3-under 68 for a five-shot victory and the 28th title of his career. Garcia birdied his first hole, picked up two more birdies before the turn and made all pars on the back nine.
Satoshi Kodaira of Japan (71) and Shaun Norris of South Africa (70) finished second.
Mitsubishi Electric Championship: Jerry Kelly survived a bogey at the 16th after a misfire off the tee with an 18-foot birdie on the final hole to beat Colin Montgomerie, who missed a 6-foot putt at the 18th in the PGA Tour Champions season opener in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, late Saturday.