Rahm edges Landry with playoff birdie
Spanish star takes La Quinta victory, No. 2 world ranking.
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.
Saturday’s Games Sunday’s Games
(At) Lakers 127, Knicks 107: Jordan Clarkson had 29 points and 10 assists, and Julius Randle added 27 points and 12 rebounds as Los Angeles got its sixth win in eight games. Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Michael Beasley scored 17 apiece for the Knicks, who have lost 12 of 16.
Magic 103, (at) Celtics 95: Elfrid Payton had 22 points as Orlando won for just the third time in its past 20 games, overcoming Kyrie Irving’s 40 points. Orlando snapped a 14-game losing streak at Boston and gave the Celtics their season-worst third straight loss. “We haven’t played well consistently on both ends for a while now,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.“I felt like they were shooting layups for the most part tonight.” Evan Fournier added 19 points, and Aaron Gordon had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando.
Nets 101, (at) Pistons 100: Spencer Dinwiddie’s jumper with nine-tenths of a second left handed Detroit its fifth straight loss. After Andre Drummond’s basket put the Pistons ahead with 4.7 seconds left, Dinwiddie took the inbounds pass, drove to 14 feet and drained a jumper against his former teammates. He finished with 22 points. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Tobias Harris had 20 points for the Pistons.
Pacers 94, (at) Spurs 86: Victor Oladipo scored 19 points and Darren Collison added 15 as Indiana snapped San Antonio’s 14-game home winning streak. With Manu Ginobili, Rudy Gay and Kawhi Leonard out with injuries, the Spurs brought Tony Parker off the bench for just the 14th time in 1,165 career games. Parker responded with 12 points and five assists, but LaMarcus Aldridge struggled without the veteran point guard, scoring a season-low 10. Pau Gasol led the Spurs with 14 points.