The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Homa wins duel, Wells Fargo Championship
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 in Potomac, Md.
An emerging star on the PGA Tour whose only missing achievement is contention in a major, the 31-year-old Homa finished at 8-under 272 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. He won for the fourth time overall and third in 15 months.
With his win last September in Napa, Homa joins Scottie Scheffler (four), Hideki Matsuyama (two), Sam Burns (two) and Cameron Smith (two) as multiple winners on tour this season.
Bradley started the day with a two-shot 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 bogey on the closing hole gave Bradley a 2-over 72 and a tie for second with Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Homa played conservatively Saturday, the toughest scoring day of the week, but was aggressive right away Sunday.
He twirled his 7-iron as he watched his approach on the par-4 first hole settle 8 feet from the hole. A lob wedge to 8 feet on the par-4 fifth was good for another birdie, and a 7-iron inside 10 feet on the par-3 ninth allowed him to turn in 34, 2 under for the day and tied with Bradley, who steadied himself after a nervy start.
Bradley hit a poor shot from a greenside bunker on the par-5 second hole, leading to double bogey.
He rallied with a 21-foot birdie on the par-4 fifth, a par save from a difficult lie on the sixth, a 14-footer that he walked in for birdie on the seventh and an 8-iron to 4 feet on No. 8 for another birdie.
The next two of five two-shot swings between the final pairing belonged to Homa. Bradley found a penalty area right of the green on the 11th hole, the toughest on the course this week, and made double bogey while Homa saved par. When Homa converted another birdie on the par-4 15th, he had a three-shot lead with three to play.
Homa had to make a 5-footer for bogey on the par-4 16th as Bradley made birdie to move within one. The pair traded pars on 17 and when Homa lagged his birdie putt to tap-in range on 18, it was finally over.
Young made six birdies ranging in length from 8 feet to 6 inches in his closing 66 for his third runnerup finish in the 24-year-old’s rookie season on tour. Fitzpatrick birdied the 18th to conclude a bogey-free 67.
Rory Mcilroy, who began the day six shots off the lead, was 3 under through 10 holes. But he stalled from there and closed with a bogey for a 68 to finish alone in fifth, four shots back.
PGA Tour Champions
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 in Duluth, Ga.
Flesch also won this tournament in 2018, his only other win on the PGA Tour Champions.
He finished the second round badly and figured he had nothing to lose. He even switched back to his old set of irons for the final round.
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.
His wedge from 103 yards was 18 feet right of the flag and he missed for a par and a 70.
Toms finished one shot behind along with Padraig Harrington (64) and Fred Couples, who birdied the last hole for a 66. Harrington had a 7-foot birdie putt on the final hole that missed.
Flesch finished at 11-under 205. In the best weather and scoring conditions all week, Flesch ran off five straight birdies on the front nine to at least stay in range of Toms, who also started well. Flesch bogeyed the last two holes on the front nine, and those were the last of his mistakes.
A birdie putt on the 15th hole got him within one of Toms. He saved par on the 16th to share the lead when Toms made bogey two groups behind him. The winner turned out to be a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.
DP World Tour
Thorbjorn Olesen finished eaglebirdie for the second straight day to win the British Masters by one shot in a dramatic fashion, earning his first European tour title in nearly four years and igniting his career after a damaging court case.
Olesen shot 1-over 73 to finish a stroke ahead of Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg (68) at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England.
Soderberg ended 9-under 279 overall which had looked enough for the win.
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, including an eagle on the par-5 17th hole by holing from 28 feet, followed by 35 feet across the green on the last.
On Saturday Olesen tapped in from two feet at No. 17 for a second eagle of the day and holed a birdie putt from 23 feet at the last.
The Danish golfer’s previous win was at the Italian Open in June 2018. He was suspended by the European tour the following year 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, having plunged down the ranking from his position at No. 62 at the time of the incidents.
Olesen is ranked No. 376 and had not previously finished higher than a tie for 12th on the European tour this year.