• “I didn’t think it would be easy, but the way I was playing this week, I thought it would have been easier,” Fowler said. “It was kind of grind it out. I had a couple of tough breaks and had to deal with the punches — a couple big ones — but it feels good now.”

• “After a pair of 64s and a 65, Fowler shot 3-over 74 in the final round on a soggy Sunday at TPC Scottsdale, highest by a winner in tournament history. He finished at 17-under 267 to beat Branden Grace by two shots for his fifth PGA TOUR title.”

• “Fowler had another over-par round with a 54-hole lead — he’s 7 for 7 there — but birdied two of his final four holes to win from the third-round lead for the second time, with the 2017 Honda Classic the other.”

• “But disaster struck for Fowler at the 11th, where he hit his tee shot in the thick, wet rough and was forced to lay up in front of the green. With 33 yards left, Fowler hit an aggressive chip that skidded past the hole, over the green and rolled into the water. That ended up being the least of his problems, as he decided not to replay the shot but drop from behind the green. After two drops (from the new knee height requirement) saw his ball roll in the water both times, Fowler placed his ball, allowed by rules, to get it back in play lying 4″.

• “Trying to collect himself, Fowler walked up to the green to scope out what would be his fifth shot, when his ball, previously at rest, suddenly rolled back into the water. By rule this is another one-stroke penalty, as Fowler once again had to drop his ball to get it back in play. An impressive up-and-down for Fowler left him with a triple-bogey 7, and his lead had shrunk to just one stroke.”

• “Johnson began the day in a tie for first with a resurgent Li, and the pair were nip-and-tuck trading a birdie each on the front nine….Li then recovered beautifully from a poor tee shot on the ninth, holing a chip approach from above the green to take the a 1-shot lead.”

• “Lewis dragged himself into contention with a stunning opening run of five birdies, and he moved to within a shot of the leaders as both bogeyed the 10th, but Johnson reacted well and retook the lead form Li with a superb tee shot at the 11th and a fine left-to-right putt at the 12th for back-to-back birdies.”

• “Li then struggled to maintain his form and followed up a disappointing bogey at the 13th with another at the 14th after going into the bunker above the green on his approach.”

• “With Li’s challenge fading, Lewis had chances to gain shots in the final three holes, but he ultimately missed out and would finish in third at 16 under after an impressive final round of 65.”

• “This would be a good time to review exactly what we know: It appears that Sergio was frustrated with the greens very early on in the week. Then, on Friday, Garcia was involved in a separate incident of slamming his club into a bunker out of frustration for the lie he had, one he believed was created by a previous group’s poor raking of the sand.”

• “Then came Saturday’s incident. We don’t know if Garcia’s frustration in the third round was general or specific, but for whatever reason, he apparently decided to gouge a number of greens with his putter. According to The Scotsman’s Martin Dempster, Garcia actually damaged “no fewer than five greens.” At least four groups behind him complained, and after a conversation with European Tour CEO Keith Pelley, Garcia was DQ’d-a decision he said he “respected” while admitting to damaging “a couple of greens.” Dempster later went out on the course and found what he thought was one of Garcia’s divots on the sixth green.”

• “All of this, every last bit of it, is completely and utterly nuts. If he had lost his cool and done this to one green, it would be a crazy story. The fact that Garcia did it reportedly to no fewer than five greens is frankly unbelievable. It shows an utter lack of self-control. It gives us a glimpse into Sergio’s soul that no temporary blow-up ever could, and what it shows is not flattering.”

• “We had to play all day today freaking out if my caddie is anywhere near me,” Homa said.

• Even with the penalty being taken away, Homa strongly believes more needs to be done.

• “Get rid of the rule, or just look at intent,” Homa said. “Did Denny try to cheat? No. Was he trying to get lined up? No. He didn’t even address the ball, he backed out of the shot. It’s just ridiculous.

• “My dad taught me that this is the best game to play because it’s a gentlemen’s game and you call penalties on yourself. Now, it really doesn’t seem like you call penalties on yourself. It seems like somebody decides if you’re cheating or not, and it’s becoming outrageous.”

• Thomas called on Twitter for the governing bodies to get rid of 10.2b(4) altogether. When asked about changing the lingo to include intent, Thomas disagreed that was the best move.

• “I hate the word intent because then there’s a gray area and I don’t like gray areas just because it’s, I think, a black-and-white rule is the best way to go about it, because then you either broke the rule or you didn’t versus, well I didn’t intend to, but you did, you know what I’m saying?” Thomas said. “… This is one that definitely needs to be changed and improved, and hopefully will.”

• “I’m not a politician, I’m a pro golfer,” said world No. 1 Justin Rose.

• “I’m not going to get into it,” echoed world No. 2 Brooks Koepka.

• “It’s my job to play golf,” offered Dustin Johnson, the world No. 3 who went on to win the tournament.

• “While not wanting to get into his hosts having Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi dismembered and dissolved in a vat of acid, Koepka did publicly call out Bryson DeChambeau for taking too long to hit the ball. But then DeChambeau wasn’t paying his appearance fee.”

• “The storm also knocked down a tree near the 17th tee.”

• “We got hit pretty hard,” said Steve John, the event’s CEO and tournament director. “The worst weather is behind us, I’m told, and, fortunately, nobody was hurt. The bottom line is everything is going to be rebuilt. We hope nobody’s going to notice anything happened by the time people arrive for the tournament.”

Full piece.