DeChambeau rolls to win; Tiger’s woes continue
Northern Trust victor chases Ryder Cup spot
PARAMUS, N.J. – Throughout his comeback on the PGA Tour this year, Tiger Woods has played numerous practice rounds with Bryson DeChambeau.
Now the two could be partners in the Ryder Cup.
Saying he was on a mission all week, DeChambeau polished off a tour de force triumph Sunday in The Northern Trust with a final-round 2-underpar 69 to finish at 18 under and four clear of the field at Ridgewood Country Club.
After he narrowly missed qualifying for the U.S. Ryder Cup team as one of the automatic eight, DeChambeau’s third victory of his young career and second of the season — he won the Memorial in June — puts him in prime position to be one of Jim Furyk’s four captain’s picks.
“If I can keep playing the way I’m playing, I can do some pretty good things,” said DeChambeau, 24.
Tony Finau made a compelling case to be a pick, too, as he closed with a 68 to finish second. Billy Horschel (68) and Cameron Smith (68) were another stroke back in a tie for third.
With rounds of 68-66-63, DeChambeau took a four-shot lead into the final round as his game stood out more than his tam O’Shanter cap and single-length shafts. After his advantage dropped to two shots midway through the round, he ripped off two birdies and finished the week with 24 birdies in 72 holes.
With the win, he took over the lead of the FedExCup after the first event of the four-tournament postseason.
When asked about being a Ryder Cup pick, DeChambeau, who has six top-5 finishes this year, said, “I said I was a man on a mission yesterday, and hopefully he (Furyk) can see that I’ve got some grit and grind, and that even when I don’t execute certain shots, I can get it done.”
Woods is generally considered to be one of Furyk’s four picks — the captain makes three of them a week from Tuesday. At the least Woods will be an assistant captain and said DeChambeau would be a formidable addition.
“We all know he’s extremely intelligent, but his heart, he gives it everything he has and is always trying to get better,” Woods said. “We want fiery guys on the team. We are going overseas and we are going into a pretty hostile environment, so we want guys who are fiery. He’s a tough kid. He would be a great Ryder Cup partner for anyone.”
As for Woods, he couldn’t leave the Garden State fast enough after the greens left him reeling in frustration. He took 120 putts en route to finishing in a tie for 40th — most of them leaving him exasperated. Two weeks after his putter sizzled in St. Louis on his way to a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club, Woods and his putter never warmed to the Ridgewood greens.
“Just the way it goes. You have good weeks and you have bad weeks,” Woods said after he shot 71-71-68-70 to finish at 4 under. “The greens, sometimes they look good to you. Sometimes they don’t. All my good putts, basically, went in at Bellerive, and the bad putts lipped out. This week, the good putts lipped out and the bad ones didn’t have a chance. That’s the way it goes.”
A day after missing seven birdie putts from inside 15 feet, Woods was at it again in the final round as he missed seven birdie putts from inside 20 feet. His putting woes marred an otherwise outstanding week of play, especially his work with the driver. Woods added a degree of loft and put in a new shaft and his driver became a weapon again. His iron play wasn’t bad, either.
“I played a lot better than my score indicates,” Woods said.
Woods headed home to Florida, where he’ll spend a few days with his kids before heading north for this week’s Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston, the second of four events in the FedExCup Playoffs. He said he has work to do on his putting, but he’s not as alarmed as one would expect after a lost week at Ridgewood. And don’t expect him to change putters. He just had one of those weeks.
He’s fixed most every ailment in his game. Early in his comeback he couldn’t find the planet with his driver. Then he couldn’t find a green with his wedge. Then his putter went astray before coming back home. Now he has his driver dialed in and the putter is lost again.
“Welcome to golf,” Woods said. “It’s not that easy to win out here. What you’re seeing is that I’m close and just one shot here, one shot there, per day, flips momentum. That’s what either I had been missing or I had gotten and I would lose it. It’s just looking for one shot a day here and there, and you just never know when that shot may come, early in the front nine, late in the back nine, but it’s not that far off.”