Monday Finish: Bryson DeChambeau’s driving leads to victory, Rickie Fowler finds form

Bryson DeChambeau opened his 2018-19 season pretty much how he finished the last one, firing a final-round 66 to reach 21 under and secure his fifth PGA TOUR victory and fourth since June at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where DeChambeau held off a hard-charging Patrick Cantlay (65) by one to recall his form in the FedExCup Playoffs last fall. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Everything changed in a matter of minutes. Some tournaments are hard to encapsulate with any sort of turning point. Not this one. Playing behind Cantlay, DeChambeau had just lost the lead when he rolled in an eagle putt of 57 feet, 7 inches from just behind the green at the par-5 16th hole. Meanwhile, Cantlay was up ahead making bogey from the greenside bunker at the par-3 17th. Just like that, DeChambeau had gone from one behind to two ahead and in the driver’s seat. Two more pars to close it out and he was left to talk about his reaction to the eagle, capped off with a Tiger-like fist pump. “Yeah, when I hit it it’s like, all right, it’s pretty solid speed off the start,â€� DeChambeau said. “Then I saw it about halfway down there and I was like, ‘Ooh, that might be a little fast.’ For whatever reason the slope gradually declined and went to about like a 2 percent slope and the ball started just rolling perfectly to the right just like I had envisioned. “Just held straight that last little bit and was able to trickle in,â€� he added. “I haven’t given a reaction like that in a while. That was pretty cool.â€� 2. Cantlay ran out of holes. Vying to become the first to successfully defend his title in Vegas since Jim Furyk (’99), Cantlay was just 1 under for his first 27 holes, but 19 under for his final 45. “I really got off to a slow start Friday, or Thursday and Friday, and that was too much to overcome,â€� he said. “Played really well this weekend and I’m proud of that.â€� He did well to birdie the par-5 16th after yanking his tee shot left, and closed with a clutch birdie on 18. A poor bunker shot at the par-3 17th, his ball barely escaping the sand, led to a bogey. “It was just a poor shot at the wrong time,â€� Cantlay said. 3. Sam Ryder is knocking on the door. Ryder’s pants, which showed a lot of ankle, got a lot of commentary on the telecast, but it was his play that spoke loudest. His final-round 62 was another suggestion that a win is coming. “I knew it was going to have to be silly low if I was going to have a chance,â€� Ryder said. “I just wanted to have a good day and take it hole by hole, shot by shot, play well, and that’s kind of what I did. Just made maybe the best ball-striking round of my life.â€� As good as it was, it could have been even better had he not found the water in front of the green at the par-5 16th hole, where he had to scramble for a par. “Wish I could have had the one back on 16,â€� he said. “I mean, I want to go laser that after the day’s over. I said, ‘Be right,’ and I thought — I mean, I thought that was perfect. I could not have hit it better. Came up a little short. “All in all, happy with it. Few too many 5s on the scorecard, but good day.â€� 4. Rickie Fowler is in form heading to Mexico. Fowler’s 63 (T4) was his best final round in an official TOUR event, although he closed with a 61 to win the unofficial Hero World Challenge a year ago. Now he heads to the Mayakoba Golf Classic, where he was runner-up last year. “It seemed to get better and better,â€� said Fowler, who worked with his Vegas-based swing coach, Butch Harmon, last week. “I think we continued to shake some rust off every day. Putter felt a lot better today. I’m looking forward to (Mayakoba).â€� Fowler’s 63 marked the fourth time he’s shot 63 or better on TOUR, with his career low still the 62 he shot in the second round of the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open. 5. Jordan Spieth saw both good and bad. A T55 finish was nothing to write home about for 2015 FedExCup champion Spieth, who was making his first fall start in the U.S. But that’s not to say there weren’t some highlights. First among them was perhaps his chipping and putting as he opened with a 5-under 66, then chased that with a second-round 68. Alas, struggled on the weekend, signing for 71-72 to fall way back. What happened? He was using a new driver and 3-wood, which he said didn’t work out. “I’m going to go back to my old stuff (at Mayakoba) next week,â€� he said. He added that he had suffered some lousy breaks (plugged lies, balls in divots), and lost his swing on the weekend. All of that notwithstanding, it’s still early in the new season as Spieth tries to bounce back from a winless 2017-18, when he finished 31st in the FedExCup. And he said he would take some poignant memories away from the Shriners. “The hospitality and really the way that the kids from the hospital we really incorporated into the week was fantastic,â€� Spieth said. “I thought it was incredible to have standard-bearers from the hospital and the way that they were able to incorporate it on the range and then throughout the practice rounds, the pro-ams, really makes it a special week for sure.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. DeChambeau was a monster on the back nine, going 16 under compared to just 5 under on the front. He was one of three players (Bud Cauley, Richy Werenski) to go bogey-free on the back nine the entire week. He hit 34 of 36 greens in regulation on the back nine over the weekend, when he was +4.81 in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. 2. More dialed-in from tee to green than in any of his previous four wins, DeChambeau was sixth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and third in SG: Approach-the-Green. He led the field in SG: Tee-to-Green (+13.550), was fourth in fairways hit (44/56), T4 in greens in regulation (60/72), and took 115 total putts. Which of those stats stood out? “I drove it incredible,â€� DeChambeau said. 3. Abraham Ancer (66, T4) notched his second top-5 finish in three starts this season (T5 CIMB Classic) and now heads to his native Mexico for the Mayakoba Golf Classic (T9 last year). 4. There were five bogey-free rounds Sunday: Ryder (62), Fowler (63), Brandon Harkins (64), Joaquin Niemann (66), and Alex Prugh (69). Ryder’s 62 marked his career low and second top-four finish in his last three starts, and his third-place finish moved into 10th in the FedExCup. 5. Newly minted 2017-18 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Aaron Wise led the field with 27 birdies, one more than Cantlay, whose nine on Sunday tied his career best for one round. WYNDHAM REWARDS The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will benefit from the Wyndham Rewards program. Xander Schauffele maintains the top spot while Bryson DeChambeau jumps to fifth after winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Runner-up Patrick Cantlay moved from 26th to sixth, while third-place Sam Ryder jumped from 31st to 10th.

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