USA TODAY International Edition
45- footer lifts Haas to victory at Riviera
Tops Mickelson, Bradley in playoff
Bill Haas knows anything is possible from even the most dire position. Remember, this is the guy who five months ago saved par with his ball partially submerged in a lake and won the Fedexcup.
But not even Haas could have imagined such a stunning conclusion Sunday at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
In thick rough behind the 10th green, the second hole of a three- man playoff with Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, Haas played away from the flag in hope of making par and going on to the next hole.
He wound up holing a 45- foot birdie putt across the green to win the Northern Trust Open.
“A part of me was saying, ‘ I’ve done this once; let’s do it again,’ ” Haas said. “Another part was saying, ‘ Don’t screw this up.’ ”
Mickelson and Bradley worked their own heroics just to get to the playoff.
Haas, who closed with a 2- under- par 69, was on the practice range as he warmed up for a possible playoff. He was trying to convince himself that Mickelson or Bradley — maybe both — would make birdie on the 18th hole, even though it had yielded six birdies all day.
With tournament executive director Jerry West, the Lakers legend, looking on, Mickelson rammed in a birdie putt from 25 feet, pointing his putter and slamming his fist as the gallery packed below the clubhouse let out a cheer that could be heard down Sunset Boulevard.
Mickelson bumped fists with Bradley and said, “Join me.”
That he did. Bradley’s birdie putt from just outside 12 feet took one last, slow turn at the cup and disappeared, setting off another enormous cheer. No one had to tell Haas what was happening.
The match was decided on the 312- yard 10th, regarded as the best short par- 4 in America. It can be reached with a drive, but it’s all about position — and none of the three was in a particularly good spot.
Haas went long into thick rough, with enough of the back bunker in his way that he played out to the right and left himself a long birdie putt that would assure him at least par.
Mickelson and Bradley each came up short, with bad angles. Mickelson’s flop shot landed near the hole and rolled into the back bunker. Bradley’s was in the bunker, and he did well to blast out to 15 feet.
Bradley missed his birdie putt after Mickelson failed to hole his bunker shot. Both shot 71.
Mickelson, who last week rallied from six shots behind with a 64 to win at Pebble Beach, was trying to become the first since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win back- to- back on the PGA Tour.
LPGA:
Yani Tseng’s resolve to relax under pressure was tested Sunday on the final hole of the Honda LPGA Thailand.
The Taiwanese star needed to get up and down for birdie from about 100 yards to avoid a probable playoff after Ai Miyazato hit her approach close.
Meeting the challenge with a shot fitting her No. 1 ranking, Tseng controlled the spin perfectly to set up a tap- in putt for a one- stroke victory.
“It was an incredible shot. I think it’s the shot of the week,” Tseng said. “Especially, I saw that Ai hit it so close and I knew she was going to make that putt. So I tell myself, ‘ I need to get this close.’ ”
The 23- year- old Taiwanese star successfully defended her title for her 13th LPGA victory, matching Miyazato with birdies on the final two holes to hold off her Japanese friend by a stroke.