New putter helps Ian Poulter at WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The Honda Classic beckoned Sunday morning with the potential to be a runaway, with Daniel Berger, a local boy, in the lead by five. That’s a pretty commanding advantage at most places. The Champion Course at PGA National, though, stands as a brutish bouncer at the door. It simply wouldn’t allow such a thing. RELATED: Full leaderboard | What’s in Straka’s bag? Instead, we got drama – heaps of it, in fact – and a late rain shower, an uncharacteristic off-day from Berger (74) and a first-time winner in Sepp Straka. Straka, a Georgia Bulldog by way of Austria – how many Austrians do you know with a Southern drawl? – started terribly with a missed 2-footer for par at the first hole, but finished brilliantly. He made birdies on three of his last five holes, played the Bear Trap in 1 under, shot 4-under 66 and became the first Austrian-born player to win on the PGA TOUR. Oh, and now a Masters invitation beckons, as well. It was a lot to take in for a 28-year-old who moved to Valdosta, Georgia, at age 14 and later became a Georgia Bulldog. “It’s crazy,” Straka said. “It’s a lifelong dream of mine just to be heading to Augusta in a month or so. It’s still surreal. I’m sure it’ll sink in here before long, but yeah, it’s just crazy.” Tied with Shane Lowry as he arrived at the par-5 18th hole in the day’s penultimate group, Straka ripped a 334-yard bullet off the tee, hit 6-iron from 192 yards safely onto the putting surface in a sudden downpour, and cozied his 48-foot putt for eagle just 9 inches short of the hole. He tapped in for birdie to finish at 10-under 270. Behind him in the wet left-side rough stood Lowry, the gritty Irishman who captured the 2019 Open Championship at Portrush. He had done so much good all day, played so well, but Lowry struggled in the rain, a poor third shot leaving him 43 feet to try to force extra holes. The birdie putt drifted off short. Lowry shot a bogey-free 67. Afterward, he accepted his ill-timed fate, chalking it up to that lottery we know as golf. But he did say having to play the entire 72nd hole in a driving rain – there was no electricity in the storm, so golfers played on – was “as bad a break as I’ve got in a while.” Lowry turned in a beautiful card – 15 pars and three birdies on a golf course where danger lurks at every corner – but in the end he failed to make birdie over his final seven holes, and therein was the difference. In the end, it was hard to figure out who was happier: Straka, the first-time winner in his fourth TOUR season, or all of his fellow Bulldogs who stuck around to watch him win. “I think it validates a lot for him,” said fellow Bulldog Chris Kirk, who is Straka’s standing partner in Tuesday practice games on TOUR. Kirk was in the mix until he was derailed by a triple bogey at the 15th hole, the start of PGA National’s Bear Trap. He tied for seventh. “Obviously, he knows how great of a player he is – we all know how great of a player he is – but getting that first win, it’s unreal, for sure. Making it to the PGA TOUR is one thing. Winning out here is a completely different story. It’s incredible.” Kirk said Straka is one of the best driver and 3-wood players that he knows, and winning was just a matter of time. Straka tied for 10th at the Olympic Men’s Golf Competition last summer, representing Austria, where his father is from, and hoped to ride some momentum out of that. But his fall wasn’t very good. He started working with instructor John Tillery in December, just to “fine-tune” some things. And his play of late has been much better. Starting five shots back on Sunday did little to slow him. “This course is crazy,” Straka said. “There are no gimme holes at all. … You want to stand on that 15th tee with a chance to win, and we were there.” Straka would birdie the par-4 16th (19 feet) to tie for the lead, and he then made one final birdie at the last. He led the Honda field in driving accuracy (47 of 56 fairways), hit 15 greens on Sunday, and when he missed, scrambled well all week (13 of 17, which ranked third). Berger’s five-shot cushion heading into Sunday was the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history. By the time he and Lowry stood on the sixth tee, they were tied. Lowry got there with birdies on the first and fourth holes, and Berger got there with a double bogey at the par-5 third and bogeys at the fifth and sixth. The goal for Lowry was to slowly cut into Berger’s big lead. When Berger played his first six in 4 over, Lowry was a co-leader. It came a lot sooner than he had expected. “I was ready for anything out there today,” Lowry said. “I feel like mentally, I’m very good at the minute. And yeah, before I knew it, I was leading the golf tournament. It was great. I really enjoyed it. Quite nerve-wracking.” Berger can be tougher than sandpaper, too, a competitor who loves the arena, much like Lowry. He holed a bunker shot for birdie at the par-3 seventh and, as hard as he fought, he would not make another until he holed a 28-foot chip at the par-4 14th. He went down swinging, hitting 3-wood right into the water guarding the par-5 18th, which led to bogey and a fourth-place finish. It was Berger’s third top-four at his hometown TOUR event. “I didn’t play well, so I didn’t win the golf tournament,” Berger said. “That’s unfortunate, but I actually felt good. I just didn’t hit the shots that I needed to at the right time. “That’s the way golf goes. There are plenty of guys that hit great shots today, and that’s why they’re winning golf tournaments.”

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Hilary Watson, wife of World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson, passed away Wednesday night after a 2-1/2 year battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 63. “Hilary was a very special person – bright, principled, accomplished and she had a gift of uplifting those around her,â€� former PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said. “And when Hilary set out to do something, she did it successfully. I’ll always remember the stories of her rodeo days, where she won all sorts of medals and ribbons, even after her illness. Most of all, Hilary was a wonderful mate for Tom, we could all see that. My heart goes out to Tom and his family at this difficult time.â€� The Watsons were married in 1999. Hilary was first diagnosed in October 2017 after experiencing pain in her abdomen. She eventually underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and then surgery in May 2018 to remove a tumor. Pancreatic cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. According to pancreatic.org, for all stages combined, 91% of pancreatic cancer patients die within five years of diagnosis. Yet the illness did not keep Hilary from participating in cutting horse competitions. In 2018, she finished fourth in the National Cutting Horse Association amateur rider of the year finals and followed that with a fifth-place finish in 2019. “I keep popping up where people are thinking, ‘What are you doing? Why are you here?’â€� she told the Kansas City Star newspaper in 2018. “I think that’s what kept me going through all of that, having those shows and being enthusiastic and excited about doing something. “Whether I’m feeling good or not, I was going to still get on that horse. And have some fun doing it. That’s been a godsend for me.â€� This summer, after playing in his last Senior Open, Tom Watson said he was looking forward to spending more time with his wife. “Really happy now doing something a little bit different with my life,â€� said Watson, who won 39 times (including eight majors) in his PGA TOUR career, and an additional 14 times on PGA TOUR Champions. “Being with my wife, Hilary, who loves to ride the horses, and I love to ride the horses, and we’re going to do something different now.â€� Former PGA of America president Ted Bishop, who convinced Tom Watson to captain the U.S. team at the 2014 Ryder Cup, paid tribute to Hilary Watson. “Tom will tell you that Hilary was his hero. … and for many reasons. How these two people dealt with the devastation of the worst that cancer can 
muster up is truly an inspiration to us all,â€� Bishop wrote on Facebook. “Hilary was a beautiful woman who was also one of the fiercest competitors who ever lived. Tom is an eight-time major champion golfer, but more so a man who has always dealt with adversity in amazing ways. It’s a sad day, but Hilary’s fight is over and she leaves us with many beautiful memories.â€� Hilary Watson is survived by her husband Tom and her children, Kyle Charles, Kelly Paige and Ross Donald; her stepchildren, Meg Carr and Michael Watson; and two sisters, Alicia Korte and Christine Holton. According to golfchannel.com, the family will hold a memorial service Dec. 4 in Leawood, Kansas at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be given to the Children’s Bereavement Camp of Crossroads Hospice Kansas or to United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.

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