“I was in contention, but I kind of just was able to hold on and get myself into the playoff”. “So that’s what I’ve got tomorrow, so I’m excited about it”.
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The anxiety appeared a distant memory Sunday as a smiling Hahn cracked open a can of Bud Light as he sat behind the podium and asked the media, “You want one?”
“My game feels very close, just need to clean up silly mistakes and I’ll be right there”. “It’s not an option for me”. I played well and converted a lot of chances and did a lot of things right.
He won’t have to worry about that now for quite a while.
Andrew Loupe: Many figured Loupe, still chasing his first PGA Tour win, would fall by the wayside as the weekend continued.
“You have to keep believing in yourself and keep grinding”. “I felt really good about being in the final group and getting the job done”.
Hahn said he never looked at the scoreboard all day and didn’t know that if he’d made par on the 72nd hole that he would have likely sealed the tournament. He missed the par putt to leave the door open for Castro.
The pair, playing in the final group, both posted bogey-fives at the 11th to reduce their cushion over the chasing pack, before Castro bounced back with an eight-foot gain at the 13th.
But Castro’s tee shot on the playoff hole found the creek on the left side of the fairway and his third shot landed in a spectator’s shoe on the side of the green, leading to a bogey.
Meanwhile, American Zac Blair was disqualified for using a non-conforming club after bending his putter when he hit himself in the head with it having missed a putt for birdie.
“I was anxious he was going to be laid out when we got up there”, Castro said.
Phil Mickelson and defending champion Rory McIlroy struggled, dropping eight shots behind Fowler.
Hahn had bogeyed the 18th in regulation. In the 2013 LPGA Thailand at age 17, Jutanugarn blew a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey in a one-stroke loss to Inbee Park.
Afterward, Castro chose to accentuate the positive, focusing on the strong play that got him into the two-man playoff.
Champions Tour: Jesper Parnevik won the Insperity Invitational for his first Champions Tour victory, shooting a 5-under 67 for a four-stroke victory in The Woodlands, Texas.
If any player on the PGA Tour feels comfortable with a one-shot lead and a tight-knit leaderboard, it might well be Fowler, whose five worldwide professional wins were all either clinched in a playoff or decided by a shot. The two-time major champion turned 50 on April 28.
Daly followed his opening 70 with a 73 to drop into a tie for 21st at 1 under.
Lorie Kane won the 18-hole Legends Tour event with a 71 for her second straight victory. Frost shot 69, and Goodes 70. He made a routine birdie at the par-5 No. 15 before sinking a 27-footer at No. 16.
Resuming three strokes back, Fowler mixed six birdies with two bogeys during an impressive display in tough scoring conditions at Quail Hollow.
She gave cheering fans a wave and smile as she approached the final green, chipping to 5 feet to set up a par putt. Jutanugarn finished at 14-under 273 on the Senator Course at Capitol Hill. “It’s a decent performance, looking back on it two 73s I shot in the first and the third round left me with a little bit too much to do heading into the last”.
TV: Thursday-Friday, GOLF 1 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, NBC, 2 p.m.
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Rickie Fowler is in position to successfully defend his title as Ultimate Son.
