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Tour Mash: Ko adds another major, Svoboda wins in Brazil

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Jim Herman stared down some pretty strong competition on his way to PGA Tour victory No. 1 in the 2016 Shell Houston Open. You can read more about his Augusta-inspired performance here. As for the rest of the tours, we have you covered. Let’s begin with the first major of the year.

LPGA Tour ANA Inspiration

It’s never easy to watch a golfer fall apart in a major championship. It wasn’t easy to watch Ariya Jutanugarn build a two-stroke lead with three to play, then finish with three consecutive bogeys to lose a chance at her first major title. Jutanugarn three-putted hole No. 16, her first three-whack of the week. She then yanked consecutive tee shots into hazards (a bunker on 17 and a pond on 18) to drop from 13-under par to 10-under. Jutanugarn is young and might recover from this dagger. Her ability to finish, however, will remain in question until she does.

So how did the first major of the season finish? Well, Lexi Thompson had the overnight lead, but lost it on Sunday’s first hole. The other 17 holes of her round continued down the path toward forgettable until a final-hole eagle, and the 2014 champion of this event ended up in fifth place by herself. Defending champion Brittany Lincicome also had a weekend to forget, ending up in T36. Never fear, as a lot was happening at the top of the leaderboard, where the game’s other big names did battle for the championship.

2015 U.S. Open champion In-Gee Chung, locked in a race to represent South Korea in the 2016 Rio Olympics, did her best to add a second major championship to her resume. She made a miraculous up-and-down for birdie on 18 to momentarily tie for the lead with Lydia Ko. Unfortunately for Chung, Ko was precisely 18 inches from birdie herself, thanks to the wedge shot of the week.

Ko is everyone’s pick to win at the beginning of each tour event. The Kiwi inserted herself into the mix with two early birdies on Sunday. No more birdie putts fell until the 18th, or Ko might have run away with the title. As it was, the dart she threw from 90 yards was all that she needed to win her second consecutive major (after the 2015 Evian Championship in September) and her 12th LPGA Tour title.

Web.com Tour Brasil Championship

Andrew Svoboda began Sunday with a one-stroke lead over Bhavik Patel. The two Web.com golfers then played a game of Hot Potato for the next five hours. Back and forth the lead went, from Svoboda to Patel and back. Svoboda had four birdies over his first dozen holes, but Patel matched him with a eagle and two birdies of his own. Both birdied 13 and made bogey on 14, then Patel seized the lead with birdie on 16 after Svoboda made bogey on 15.

Patel took his one-stroke advantage to the 18th tee and promptly gave it back with a missed green that led to a bogey. Svoboda, meanwhile, played the hole to perfection, nearly holing his approach shot and leaving himself six feet to birdie and glory. When the putt dropped for another, two-shot swing, Svoboda had his third career Web.com Tour victory. His first-place check moved him to third place in the standings, while Patel’s runner-up place brought him to No. 8 on the season. The importance of a win was not lost on Svoboda, who revealed:

“This gives me new life to get back on the PGA TOUR. I have a pretty good chance to get my card if I play well the rest of the year.”

Champions Tour Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic

Miguel Angel Jimenez had a nice front nine on the PGA Tour Champions of Sunday, bringing him within shouting distance of the leaders. After four consecutive birdies on holes 10 through 13 though, he was whispering in their ears. Jimenez added an eighth birdie on No. 15 and watched as Jerry Smith, Scott Dunlap and others failed to keep pace with his effort. Pars on the last three holes were sufficient for a two-shot victory over Dunlap.

To put Jimenez’ round in perspective, only Lee Janzen was able to shoot better than minus-4 among the remaining field. The two-time U.S. Open champ had 67, with one bogey added to his six birdies.

Drive, Chip, & Putt National Championships

DriveChipandPuttAugusta

There were eight divisions in the #DCPFinals at Augusta National golf club on Sunday. Girls and boys competed in 7-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15 year old brackets. Here’s how the winners and their specialties broke down:

  • 2 out of 8 champions won the putting contest, and 5 more putting champs were runner-up in their brackets;
  • 2 of 8 champions won a respective chipping skill, while 3 more were runners-up in their age group;
  • 5 of 8 champions also won the driving talent, yet no driving champs finished runner-up.

What does that tell me about junior golfers in an isolated competition with boatloads of pressure on them? If you get out to a great start (i.e. a long drive) the hole gets easier. However, if you can putt your ball well, you clean up in the end.

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Chuck D

    Apr 4, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    Gettin’ it DONE!! And to think, she’s walking from the game at 30! Should be an interesting career.

    Go KO!!

  2. Tom

    Apr 4, 2016 at 11:36 am

    16 victories before turning 19, what a feat.

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