Dou’s dramatic turnaround
GREAT EXUMA, Bahamas – Almost a year and a half after his first victory, Marty Dou Zecheng nailed down his second Web.com Tour title in style on Wednesday, draining a 55-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sands Emerald Bay by two strokes.
The 21-year-old Dou, who hails from Henan province, edged Americans Ben Kohles and Steve LeBrun, who both finished two strokes back at 16-under.
Dou started the final round with a three-shot lead, seemingly in position for an easy victory. But he bogeyed three of the first four holes on the back nine and, after dropping a shot on the par-5 15th, trailed Kohles by a shot.
With Kohles in the clubhouse, Dou turned things around just in time. Birdies on 16 and 17 helped him regain a one-shot advantage, and his seeing-eye putt on the final green clanked off the flagstick and dropped into the cup to close out a round of 2-under 70.
“It feels great to win the first event of the year,” said Dou, who finished 18-under and pocketed $108,000.
“My other win (at the KC Golf Classic) was at the end of the season, and in that one I was leading the whole time. In this one, I was leading and then struggled a bit and had to come back from behind at the end.”
Dou birdied the last three holes to reach 27 for the tournament, edging LeBrun for the most over the four days.
“I had dinner with Boo Weekley on Tuesday and he was talking about the differences in this course compared to a lot that we play,” said Dou, who joined the Web.com Tour in 2017.
“I really like it out here because you can’t take everything with your driver. It’s pretty tight and a little shorter, but the wind picks up really easily. We have to think about it a lot more than other courses.”
Dou said last year’s experience as a rookie on the PGA Tour, which saw him miss the cut or withdraw in 19 of his 23 starts, helped him recommit to refining his game.
“Since my junior days I’ve always been at the top of the leaderboard and had a lot of offers from colleges,” he said.
“At times I felt like even if I didn’t practice I could still be a good player. From being on the PGA Tour Series China and winning the order of merit and getting my card in my first year on the Web.com Tour, I thought I was good. But after losing my (PGA Tour) card I lost myself. I got to the point where I wondered if golf was for me anymore.
“This year I won’t be doing the same thing. I’ll keep on pushing myself hard, see where I can get to instead of just letting myself go after getting the card. So hopefully I’ll be more in contention this year. That’s my plan.”
While Dou referenced winning at many levels through the years, this was an emphatic first — coming from behind with three closing birdies and a long putt on the final hole to slam the door on a potential playoff.
The win earned Dou 500 points and a big start in his attempt to return to the PGA Tour.
“Winning by one or two strokes, in that kind of way, was definitely a first for me,” said Dou. “The birdie on 16 was a game-changer. I pulled it a little bit and I thought I might have hit it in the hazard and was done for the tournament.
“After getting there, it looked really good and it brought my confidence back. It was the most important shot of the day for me. Hitting the fairway and having 59 yards to the pin was huge.”
PGA Tour veterans Willy Wilcox and Rob Oppenheim were among a tie for fourth at 15-under, while Zac Blair finished alone in eighth place after a 65 in the final round.
This was the first of two straight events in the Bahamas to kick off the Web.com Tour season, with the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic beginning on Sunday.