Homa gets another win at Wells Fargo
Olesen ends European tour drought
POTOMAC, Md., May 9, (AP): Max Homa played solid, steady golf during a week of cold, wet conditions and a back-and-forth Sunday duel with Keegan Bradley, closing with a 2-under 68 for a two-shot victory in the Wells Fargo Championship.
Homa, who finished at 8-under 272 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, won for the fourth time in his career and third time in the last 15 months.
Homa, who also won the season opener in Napa, California, joins Scottie Scheffler (four), Hideki Matsuyama (two), Sam Burns (two) and Cameron Smith (two) as multiple winners on tour this season. He moves to No. 6 in the Presidents Cup for the September matches at Quail Hollow.
Homa got his first career win in 2019 at Quail Hollow, which took the year off as Wells Fargo host because of the Presidents Cup. TPC Potomac, which last held a tour event in 2018, filled in ably despite torrential rain on Friday and Saturday and unseasonably cold temperatures most of the week.
Bradley started the day with a twoshot lead, gave it away on the par-5 second hole and took it back on the par-4 eighth before Homa finally took command for good on the back nine.
A two-shot swing on the 15th hole gave Homa a three-shot lead, only for another two-shot swing on the next hole narrowed the lead to one. A bogey on the closing hole gave Bradley a 2-over 72 and a tie for second with Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Rory McIlroy, who began the day six shots off the lead, was 3 under through 10 holes. He stalled from there and closed with a bogey for a 68 to finish alone in fifth, four shots back.
In Sutton, Thorbjorn Olesen finished eagle-birdie for the second straight day for a one-shot victory in the British Masters, his first European tour title in nearly four years since a damaging court case. Olesen closed with a 1-over 73 to finish a stroke ahead of Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg (68) at The Belfry. South Africa’s Justin Walters (71) and Scottish pair Connor Syme (70) and Richie Ramsay (71) shared a three-way tie for third.
Olesen had taken a three-stroke lead into the final round but struggled Sunday before his brilliant finish, making a 30-foot eagle putt on the 17th and win
ning with a 35-foot birdie putt.
The Dane was suspended by the European tour in 2019 after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman and being intoxicated on a flight following a World Golf Championships event in Tennessee.
Olesen was acquitted by a court in December after saying he had no memory of his behavior because he had been drinking alcohol and taking sleeping tablets. He said the case had a “devastating impact” on his career after playing in the Ryder Cup in 2018.
In Duluth,Steve Flesch rallied from four shots behind with a 7-under 65 for a one-shot victory in the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, his second title at the TPC Sugarloaf. Flesch also won this tournament in 2018, his only other win on the PGA Tour Champions.
David Toms had a two-shot lead on the back nine when he missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 13th and then a 6-footer for par on the 14th. Needing a birdie to force a playoff, Toms had a hybrid for his second shot on the par-5 18th and then chose to lay up.