Woodland works OT to win Phoenix Open
Gary Woodland was surprised to see infant son Jaxson with wife Gabby late Sunday afternoon at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“My wife kind of surprised me with him,” Woodland said. “I didn’t think he was going to be there. I thought it would just be her. For her to bring him out, that was special and something I’ll never forget.”
Jaxson was born prematurely in June after a twin girl was lost in a miscarriage. On Sunday at TPC Scottsdale, he was in his father’s arms at the trophy celebration after a playoff victory.
“For him to be here, it’s obviously a miracle,” Woodland said. “I’m just so excited to share this with him and my family. Hopefully, it’s the start of something special.”
Woodland beat Chez Reavie with a par on the first extra hole.
Playing three groups ahead of Reavie, Woodland birdied three of the last four holes for a seven-under 64 — the best round of the day — to finish at 18-under 266. He opened with rounds of 67, 68 and 67 after getting some advice from instructor Butch Harmon.
“Butch sent me a text Thursday morning before I played and said, ‘Forget about everything else, let’s just put four rounds together. Don’t worry about what you shoot, don’t worry about winning, just put four good rounds together,’ ” Woodland said. “I don’t know if that put me at ease or what, but I definitely put four good rounds together this week.”
Reavie, who got his lone victory at the 2008 Canadian Open, made a 20foot birdie putt on the par-four 18th to force the PGA Tour’s fourth straight playoff and the event’s third overtime finish in a row.
In the playoff on No. 18, Woodland hit short of the green from the left fairway bunker and chipped to two feet to set up his third PGA Tour victory and first since 2013.
Sharma takes Maybank
Shubhankar Sharma of India won his second European Tour title after carding 10 birdies in a joint tournament-low 62 in the final round of the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
Spain’s Jorge Campillo was two shots adrift in second place after a closing 68 gave him a 19-under aggregate of 269, one ahead of Ryan Fox (66) and Pablo Larrazabal (66).
Sharma, 21, finished with a 21under total of 267 to pocket the first prize of $500,000.
Langley’s first pro win
Scott Langley won the Web.com Tour’s Panama Championship for his first professional victory.
Langley finished at seven-under 273 and earned $112,500.
Puerto Rico’s Rafael Campos (67) and Edward Loar (71) finished two strokes back.
Elsewhere
Simon Hawkes of Tasmania closed with a 68 and beat Harrison Endycott of Australia in a playoff to win the Oates Vic Open in Barwon Heads, Australia, on the PGA Tour of Australasia. On the same course at Beach Golf Links, and playing for equal prize money, Minjee Lee of Australia closed with a 67 for a five-shot victory in the first tournament of the year on the Ladies European Tour. Cheyenne Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods, finished in eighth place.