USA TODAY International Edition
Simpson rallies in stretch, wins Phoenix Open
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Xander Schauffele says of his U. S. Presidents Cup teammate Webb Simpson that if there was a statistical category to rank attitude, Simpson would be No. 1 by miles.
“He’s always waking up on the right side of the bed,” Schauffele said. “Even when he doesn’t, I think he just decides to roll over to the other side. I love that about his game.”
Despite trailing by two strokes with two holes to play at TPC Scottsdale on Sunday, Simpson maintained his winning attitude and made birdie on the final two holes to catch Tony Finau and rolled in a 10- foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Simpson closed in 2- under- par 69 for a 72- hole total of 17- under 267 and ended a victory drought in the desert that dated to the 2018 Players Championship.
Simpson’s sixth career PGA Tour title was a victory for the short hitters. Simpson averages 291 yards, or 160th on Tour, giving up 17 yards off the tee to Finau. But Simpson has worked hard in the gym the last three years and gained approximately 8 yards in the air over the last two years.
“I called him a skinny fat kid. Now he’s a skinny ripped kid,” said Simpson’s caddie, Paul Tesori. “He can never do what the bombers do, but in his own way he’s worked as hard as he could. If they get 8 yards longer, we need to get 8 too.”
Simpson also has overcome the ban of the belly putter in 2016, which he had used to great effect, including in victory at the 2012 U. S. Open. Prior to winning The Players Championship in 2018, he ranked No. 192 in strokes gained: putting.
Simpson began using a claw grip and the arm- lock technique of holding the putter against his left arm in 2018, and he has regained his touch on the greens.
“It was like a light bulb went off,” Tesori said. “He’s a better putter now than he ever was with the belly putter.”
Simpson had finished second four times since his last victory, most recently when Tyler Duncan birdied the last two holes in regulation to force a playoff at the RSM Classic in November.
This time it was Simpson, who had a 1- 5 playoff record, who turned the tables.
The final round at TPC Scottsdale turned into match play between Finau and Simpson as their closest competitors heading into the day fell by the way side.
Justin Thomas ( 65) and Bubba Watson ( 66), who finished in a tie for third place with Nate Lashley at 14 under, started too far back.
Finau surged ahead at 17 under with back- to- back birdies at 12 and 13. When Simpson drove into the water left on 15, he made bogey and fell two back and it looked like Finau would win for the first time since 2016, just minutes from the home he moved into two weeks ago.
But Tesori reminded his boss to take things “step by step,” a saying Simpson picked up from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and has had stamped on his Titleist wedges for more than a year. That mantra served him well and allowed him to make the leap back into the winner’s circle after several close calls.