Jon Rahm wins CareerBuilder Challenge for second win on TOUR

OAKVILLE, Ontario – News and observations from the final round of the RBC Canadian Open where Jhonattan Vegas won his second-straight title north of the border in a playoff over Charley Hoffman. Vegas became the sixth golfer to defend at the Canadian Open, and the first since Jim Furyk in 2006-2007. Vegas credits family A year ago, Jhonattan Vegas was on FaceTime with his family back home in Venezuela, celebrating his win as best he could. This year, he got the real thing, as wife Hildegard and daughter Sharlene Marie were on site at Glen Abbey. “I would say it has to be the sweetest victory out of the three. Just having my family here, even my mom and dad… they were with me my first time I won. But having my wife and daughter, and especially my daughter, being with my daughter for the first win. It’s hard to compare that. It’s hard to put it in words,â€� said Vegas. “It’s just really fun, watching them really enjoy it in person and seeing how nervous they are when I’m on the course playing. Every time you get a chance to share these moments with your family, it’s just really grateful.â€� With his win, Vegas nearly locks up a spot on the International Team for this year’s Presidents Cup team, a feat he said would be ‘awesome.’ “It’s always a lifetime dream to be part of some of those great teams. I mean, not that many guys can experience what being on a Presidents Cup,â€� said Vegas. By his own admission, Vegas said he was in ‘great form’ heading to the PGA Championship in two weeks, stating he feels like he can compete on a major stage. “Obviously I’ve never put myself on a major stage to win, but I feel like my game is good enough,â€� he said. With the future of Glen Abbey uncertain, Vegas said he would be one of the biggest voices to make sure the course stays put. “Especially if I keep winning here,â€� said Vegas, laughing. “I’ll definitely make a statement on trying to keep Glen Abbey going.â€� Hughes finishes as Low Canadian For the first time in his career, Mackenzie Hughes won the Rivermead Cup as the Low Canadian at the RBC Canadian Open. Hughes, from nearby Dundas, Ont. (about 20 miles from Glen Abbey), had a robust crowd out following him all week. Although he finished with a bogey on the par-5 18th Sunday, the week overall was positive, he explained. “Obviously yesterday was a disappointing finish. But I wanted to come out here and finish strong and show some pride and try and be low Canadian,â€� said Hughes. “Last hole was a bit sour tasting and I’m probably going to think about that one for a little while. I had my sights set on three and I made six. That’s a pretty tough pill to swallow, but lesson learned… don’t get ahead of yourself. Overall it was a fun day and a really fun week.â€� Hughes finished at 10-under par and tied 32nd. He went to Kent State University in Ohio, and played Firestone Country Club – the host of next week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational – a couple of times while there. “It’s a really nice golf course, demanding, and you have to drive the ball really well there,â€� he said, as he prepares to make his debut at that event. “I’m excited for a major-type venue, and hopefully it’s a nice week.â€� And while it was a whirlwind week for Hughes – his family and friends hosted a baby shower Sunday evening for him and wife Jenna, as they are expecting their first child on October 28th, and the par-3 course he grew up playing was renamed in his honor Tuesday – he admitted he managed to make time to speak with Presidents Cup assistant captain Mike Weir about the prospect of making that team. “Obviously I know I’m a ways out from making that team, but you know, if I go out and win Firestone, then I’m obviously in contention to get on that team. (Weir) will be out there and hopefully I can put some good form together and a few good rounds and just see where that puts me. I’m not going to put any more pressure on myself to try and win. If I go out there and play the way I did today, I’ll like my chances,â€� said Hughes. “There will be more Presidents Cups in the future, but you never know what might happen.â€� Graham DeLaet fired a 1-under-par 71 Sunday to finish at 8-under. He was tied for 48th. Johnson confident into final major Dustin Johnson admitted Sunday he wasn’t satisfied with his score, but his tie for eighth gives him some positive vibes as he heads to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational next week, where he defends, and the PGA Championship the week after. “I’ve really got a lot of positive things going into the next couple weeks. Got two big weeks ahead of me next week defending at the WGC, and obviously the PGA Championship. The game is in good form,â€� said Johnson. The World No.1 made no bogeys Sunday and shot a 5-under-par 67. But, he said he left a lot of birdies out there. “I hit it a lot better than my score,â€� said Johnson. “I just hit a lot of good putts that just didn’t go in the hole. But I really feel like the game is in good form. I feel like I played well every day here. Just didn’t hole enough putts.â€� Johnson flew home to Florida Sunday evening where he’ll have some family time before coming back up to Akron, Ohio for his title defense. With a big smile he said he was excited to see his kids. He also said he feels ‘comfortable’ over the golf ball right now, and is eager to tee-it-up for the next two events. “I’m hitting my irons good and hitting good wedge shots. I’m really looking forward to the next two weeks,â€� he said. Hoffman looking ahead Although it wasn’t the result Charley Hoffman was looking for Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open, falling short in a playoff against Jhonattan Vegas, his fifth top-5 finish of the year will help push him forward with good momentum moving into the FedExCup Playoffs, the PGA Championship, and of course the Presidents Cup. “The whole progress of going forward, and I’m doing that, playing well, and obviously you always want to finish these ones off. It’s going to be a little bittersweet but I’m happy with the way I played,â€� said Hoffman. “Obviously good momentum. Got a major championship and the FedExCup coming up, and looking forward to that and hopefully I can keep it going.â€� Hoffman admitted he hit a poor tee shot on the playoff hole, and that was ultimately his demise. Although Vegas also found a fairway bunker, Vegas had a line to the green, unlike Hoffman. “Just hit really probably the worst drive of the week for me down there and Jhonny caught a break by having a shot at the green. Hats off to him the way he played,â€� said Hoffman. “I played great. Just didn’t get the putts to the hole, which is probably going to be what I’m probably going to lose a little sleep over.â€� Hoffman is projected to move to 12th in the FedExCup standings, a career-high. Hagy makes big FedExCup jump Brandon Hagy made his professional debut in Canada at the Nova Scotia Open on the Web.com Tour in 2014, and things came full circle Sunday at Glen Abbey, with Hagy notching his best-ever TOUR finish north of the border. Hagy fired a 4-under-par 68 Sunday to move into a tie for fifth. Starting the week he was 129th on the FedExCup standings, but he’s projected to move to 108th, and the result, he said, will do wonders for his confidence moving forward. “It feels really good. I’ve worked really hard for this. I’ve played some good golf. I think some of my finishes haven’t shown how I’ve been playing. It’s kind of the rub of the green,â€� Hagy explained. “It’s tough out here. It’s all the best players in the world, but I knew I just had to keep staying the course… It feels pretty good.â€� Hagy said the key to his round was staying mentally focused on the task-at-hand, something he’s been trying to improve on. “I’m really proud of how I played. It’s nice to make that eagle on the second hole and kind of get it going. Made some good putts. Chipped in once. I’m just really happy with how I kept my composure out there and tried to stay as neutral as possible,â€� he said. “I’ve been working on that a lot this last year, too, so it definitely played off.â€� Robert Garrigus, who tied Glen Abbey’s course record with a 10-under-par 62 on Saturday fired a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday and finished tied with Hagy and Tony Finau for fifth. Garrigus, too, moved into the Top 125 on the FedExCup, from 131st on the 109th.

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ORLANDO, Fla. - Arnold Palmer was as American as a man could be, but the lush green "house" he watched over and cared for so dutifully on the south end of this tourist town has taken on a distinct global flavor in choosing its winners. In the last five years at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, the tournament has crowned champions from Australia (twice), Northern Ireland, Italy and last year, England, as Tyrrell Hatton wore the champion's red alpaca cardigan, an Arnie tradition. Make way: The Arnold Palmer Invitational has become the Arnold Palmer International. South Africa's Ernie Els became the first international player to break through, winning in 1998 at Bay Hill in what was the 20th edition of Palmer moving the tournament across town from Rio Pinar to Bay Hill. Els would win again in 2010), but that first one included a 36-hole Sunday finish as a result of bad weather that week. Players were not re-grouped for the fourth round. Els went out with Tiger Woods, who eventually would win eight titles at Bay Hill, and Davis Love III, a longtime Palmer family friend who wanted nothing more than to win at Arnie's Place. Els went out in 65 in the morning round, trouncing Woods by eight and Love by 10. Neither player recovered to challenge him in the afternoon. Els, who was commuting from the Lake Nona Club just down the road, would win by four. "I became World No. 1 that day, so I was in a very good mood all around," Els said. "That night, myself and Liezl (Ernie's wife) sat in the men's grill with Mr. Palmer, having a few beers, chatting, celebrating the win. It was a great night." Hatton won last March in the PGA TOUR's final start before COVID-19 restrictions would hit. After one round was contested at THE PLAYERS Championship the following week, the TOUR shut down, and players went on a three-month hiatus. England's Hatton survived just as much as he won at API, finishing at 4-under 284, the highest winner's score in the tournament's 42-year history at Bay Hill. Hatton also was the last player on TOUR to win in front of a full crowd (there will be a limited number of fans this week). Previous international winners before Hatton to build and extend this impressive stretch? Jason Day and Marc Leishman pulled off an Aussie double in 2016-17; Rory McIlroy stepped through to win in 2018; and Italy's Francesco Molinari (2019) also landed a victory at one of the TOUR's more iconic settings. Day was the last player to receive a congratulatory handshake and the winner's trophy from Palmer, who died six months later. What's behind such a strong international winning streak at one venue, the longest on TOUR? For one, the Bay Hill event, a limited-field invitational (123 players in this week's field), has always made it a mission showcase the game's top global stars. Long before there were World Golf Championships, Palmer went above and beyond to extend invitations to the very best players in the world. Seve Ballesteros played Bay Hill, as did Ian Woosnam, and Bernhard Langer, and Nick Faldo. Greg Norman and Nick Price, World No. 1s, were Orlando residents for a time who played Bay Hill faithfully. Japan's Jumbo Ozaki, one of his era's longer hitters, competed here. One Japanese golf writer on site in 1995 famously ran out to see how long John Daly hit it, and returned with this report: "He's no Jumbo." The Bay Hill event being directly in front of THE PLAYERS for many years in March (the PLAYERS would move temporarily to May but return to a March date in 2019) helped to strengthen the field. Orlando is a popular place to be in March, with the Masters not far around the corner. Joie Chitwood III, in his first year as API's tournament director, said he received nearly 90 requests for exemptions to compete. Hatton, McIlroy, young Viktor Hovland (Norway), Sungjae Im (Korea), Matthew Fitzpatrick and Paul Casey (England) and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) are but a handful of players hoping to further the trend of international champions at Bay Hill when play starts Thursday. "I don’t think there is any real specific reason. Sometimes you just have runs like that that you can’t really explain," said Leishman, the 2017 API champion and last year's runner-up. With nearly $3.4 million in career earnings at the API, he ranks second only behind Tiger Woods. Christian Bezuidenhout, a promising young South African playing in his second API and housed at Bay Hill as he competes in several events in the United States, sees the golf course as being very similar to those players might see across the European Tour. "On European Tour-style courses, you plot your way around," he said. "I don't think this is your typical PGA TOUR course. It's not just a bomber's paradise, and you see a lot of 2-irons and 3-woods off the tees. You need a plan here." Bezuidenhout played in the second-to-last group on Sunday a year ago, alongside McIlroy, but was one of many players swept away in windy and firm conditions. The scoring average was nearly 76 on Saturday, and just more than 75 on Sunday. Hatton shot 74 Sunday, making pars at his final seven holes. "There’s a lot of firing away from pins, showing discipline at times, and then when you do have a chance, making the most of it," Leishman said. "Depending on the wind there are different holes on different days that you can attack. A lot of them run the same way so you have runs where you’re downwind, and then then you might have six holes into the wind. So understanding the wind and how it changes each day can be important." Take all those factors, mix in high winds and lots of water on the golf course, and it makes for a demanding test. Bay Hill always crowns a deserving winner. Of late, they just all seem to be players with international passports. "So I think it is just an interesting stat that's popped up," Leishman said. Laughingly, he added, "I like it, but maybe we should keep it quiet, so it keeps happening." When Els won at Bay Hill as an international in 1998, little could he know what he was starting. He enjoyed a strong relationship with Palmer, who was warm to him when Els was just starting out, well before he ever started ticking off major championships. When Palmer first invited Els to Bay Hill in 1993, the two played together the opening two rounds, a memory Els still cherishes. "For me to win the tournament twice was, of course, the greatest thrill and honor," Els said. "Whenever I see photos of Mr. Palmer presenting me with the trophy and us laughing together beside the 18th green, it sends a shiver down the back of my neck." PGA TOUR staff writer Ben Everill contributed to this report

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