The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Busch picks up win at Daytona 500
Last-lap pass helps veteran driver pick up biggest victory of career
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. >> Decked in Monster gear, chugging a tall boy of the energy drink as he was flanked by scantily clad models, Kurt Busch celebrated the biggest race win of his career. It was Monster Madness! Busch used a last-lap pass to win the crash-filled Daytona 500 on Sunday in the opening race of Monster Energy’s new role as title sponsor of NASCAR’s top series. Busch, it just so happens, is also sponsored by Monster and the company has strongly stood by him through his rocky career. So this was a victory of redemption for Busch, who was suspended by NASCAR two days before the 2015 Daytona 500 for his off-track behavior, and for Monster, which has promised to pump new life into NASCAR’s sagging sport.
“I’ve had a lot of people that have believed in me through the years, a lot of people that have supported me,” Busch said.
“The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictability,” Busch said. “This car’s completely thrashed. There’s not a straight
Rickie Fowler made it interesting Sunday for as long as it took him to make two big putts to pull away in the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Staked to a four-shot lead, Fowler hit one putt into a sprinkler hole, hit a tee shot into the water and watched a big lead shrink to one over Gary Woodland early on the back nine. Fowler answered with consecutive birdie putts of 40 and 25 feet and closed with a 1-over 71 for a four-shot victory.
“If I don’t make those putts, I’ve got a pretty tight race,” Fowler said.
Instead, those chasing him had the biggest problems with the closing stretch at PGA National.
Fowler effectively ended it with a shot over the water to the 3 feet that stretched his lead to five shots with two holes to play. Woodland appeared to have second place wrapped up until he three-putted the 17th, and then tried to lay up on the par-5 18th and came up short into the water. He closed with another bogey for a 69. He had to share second place — the difference of $128,000 — with Morgan Hoffmann, who missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
PGA champion Jimmy Walker was lurking on the fringe of contention until tee shots into the water on the 15th and 17th holes, which cost him five shots.
Tyrrell Hatton of England, who played in the final group in his first PGA Tour event in Florida, was out of the picture quickly. He still had a chance to finish alone in second, which would have gone a long way toward securing a PGA Tour card, until missing a 3-foot birdie putt on the 17th.
Fowler even got into the act when it no longer mattered. He hit his tee shot into the water on the 17th hole and made bogey, then hit a wedge into the bunker on the 18th and closed with another bogey to finish at 12-under 268.
All that mattered was the trophy, the fourth of his PGA Tour career.
Fowler jokingly referred to it as a “small collection” on Saturday evening, though it was important. He had gone 13 months and 25 starts worldwide without a victory as everyone around him was winning multiple times.
It was his first PGA Tour victory since the Deutsche Bank Championship in September 2015.
“I guess I can already plan on Hawaii for next year,” Fowler said, referring to the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. “I can relax a little bit. This just lets us chill out in a way. There’s less pressure, less stress. I think this is something we needed going into Augusta. I like this spot we’re in right now.”
LPGA Thailand
Amy Yang won the Thailand LPGA for the second time in three years, finishing with a 4-under 68 for a five-stroke victory.
Yang played the final five holes of the third round Sunday morning, completing a 65 to take a five-stroke advantage into the final round. The South Korean playeer has three LPGA Tour victories.
Yang finished at 22-under 266 on Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course.
South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu was second after a 68.