Holmes outlasts Thomas on long day at Riviera final round
LOS ANGELES >> J.B. Holmes rallied from a four-shot deficit in the final round and won a marathon finish Sunday in the Genesis Open for his first victory in three years and a trip back to the Masters.
Holmes closed with a 1-under 70, and that was enough to overcome Justin Thomas, who took 19 putts on the back nine at Riviera — three of them from 8 feet when he lost the lead for good — and shot 75.
“I knew it was going to be very difficult to shoot a low score,” Holmes said. “I needed some help from Justin.”
They played 34 holes because of a seven-hour rain delay at the start of the tournament Thursday, and that wasn’t even the worst of it. The final day featured a wild shift in weather, from sunshine in the morning to complete
16 holes of the third round, brief rain when they teed off in the final round and wicked wind that made it tough to hole putts.
There were three twoshot swings on the back nine, all because of putting.
The biggest moment was on the 13th hole, when Holmes was one shot behind and made a 12-footer for par. Thomas, who had lagged his birdie putt from
65 feet to 8 feet from the cup, three-putted from there for a double bogey to fall one shot behind.
He three-putted the next hole to fall back further, made an 8-foot birdie on the 16th to get with one but couldn’t catch up.
Holmes had his problems, too. Right when he took the lead for the first time — a birdie on the par-4 10th and a three-putt bogey from long range by Thomas — Holmes turned birdie into a shocking bogey when he three-putted from 3 feet. LPGA TOUR>> Nelly Korda won the Women’s Australian Open to add to her family’s impressive sports pedigree Down Under.
Her father, Petr Korda, won his lone Grand Slam tennis title in the 1998 Australian Open. Her older sister, Jessica Korda, won the Women’s Australian Open seven years ago. Her brother, Sebastian, won the Australian Open boys’ singles title last year.
Korda, who went into the final round at The Grange Club with a three-shot lead, stretched it to as many as five. She shot a 5-under 67 and finished at 17-under 271 for a two-shot victory over defending champion Jin Young Ko, who shot a 64. PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS >> Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Chubb Classic for his seventh PGA Tour Champions title, beating Bernhard Langer and Olin Browne with a 5-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff.
Jimenez closed with a
5-under 66 at The Classics at Lely Resort to match Langer and Browne at
13-under 200. Langer shot
68, and Browne had a double bogey on the par-4 18th in regulation for a 66.
Jimenez has won in each of his six seasons on the 50-and-over tour. The
55-year-old Spaniard won the major Regions Tradition and Senior British Open last season. EUROPEAN TOUR >> Ryan Fox of New Zealand won his first European Tour title with a 3-and-2 victory over Adrian Oategui of Spain in the final of the World Super 6 Perth.
Fox was 8-under par in 54 holes of stroke play to earn a bye into the sixhole match-play portion of the event. On Sunday, he outlasted Jazz Janewattananond after three shootout holes when their match ended in a draw, and then beat Kristoffer Reitan of Norway and Paul Dunne of Ireland, both 1 up, to reach the final.
He quickly went 3 up on Oataegui in the final, and won when they halved the fourth hole with pars. WEB.COM TOUR >> Mark Hubbard won the LECOM Suncoast Classic for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a twostroke victory over Maverick McNealy.
Hubbard finished at
26-under 262 at Lakewood National Golf Club. The
29-year-old former San Jose State player opened with rounds of 65, 66 and 64. McNealy also shot 67. Rick Lamb (64) and Jimmy Stanger (68) tied for third at 23 under.
OTHER TOURS >> Phillip Eriksson closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot victory in the Dimension Data Pro-Am on the Sunshine Tour. Eriksson birdied his last hole on the Mantagu course at Fancourt to finish at 21-under 267 and tied the tournament scoring record.