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WILMINGTON, N.C. – Notes and observations from Sunday’s final round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point Golf Club, where Brian Harman made a 28-foot birdie putt at the last hole to get to 10 under and nip Dustin Johnson (67) and Pat Perez (68) by one. Rookie Jon Rahm (71) made a par 5 at the 18th hole and finished fourth alone at 8 under. For more coverage from Eagle Point, click here for the Daily Wrap-up. HARMAN OVERLOOKED NO MORE Attention was paid to Dustin Johnson, who was going for his fourth straight win; and Jon Rahm, the rookie sensation; and Ryder Cup hero Patrick Reed, the third-round leader; and the capital L Lefty, Phil Mickelson, who had never won in North Carolina. Not much attention was paid to little lefthander Brian Harman—until he gave everyone no choice. “Well, I would be lying if I didn’t say I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder,” Harman said after he made a wild, nearly 30-foot birdie putt on the last hole to win by one. He screamed and connected on a high-five with his much-taller caddie Scott Tway as the crowd roared and the enormity of his putt hit home. Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez were out; Harman had won it. Harman is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and his tee shots don’t exactly scrape the bottom of the sun. He is steady—he was 32nd in FedExCup standings, and moves to 9th—but other than his only other TOUR win at the 2014 John Deere Classic, he hadn’t often been spectacular. When he first saw Eagle Point a few weeks ago on a reconnaissance trip with Patton Kizzire, Harris English and Hudson Swafford, Harman wasn’t sure the place was for guys like him. “I actually thought like, man, this is a real bomber’s paradise—18 and a couple of the par 5s on the front,” Harman said. “Like if you can carry like, that magic number seems to be like 290, 300 yards, if you can carry it, kind of catches the downslope and runs down there a little bit.” Harman would have to be precise, limit his mistakes, and take advantage of his opportunities. He averaged 284.1 yards off the tee, which placed him a respectable 40th in that category, and hit fairways and greens. He putted better than average. (He was 17th in strokes gained: putting.) He hung around. He said his most important round may have come Friday, when in whipping winds he not only refused to shoot himself out of the tournament, he carded a 3-under 69. Although they hadn’t first planned to be here, Harman’s wife Kelly and their daughter Cooper Marie came up from their home in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Cooper Marie will walk soon, and Kelly said Brian has been on edge about potentially missing her first steps. As it turned out, it was Kelly and Cooper Marie who got to watch Brian take the biggest step. “It’s very hard to stay patient because you know what it feels like to win, you know what it takes,” Harman said after his raucous 172nd TOUR start. “You feel like you’re capable of it but it just doesn’t happen. And then it doesn’t happen again and it doesn’t happen again, and then that’s where the doubt starts to creep in. So this one feels very good.” WIN STREAK OVER FOR JOHNSON After making the cut on the number (1 over), Dustin Johnson did almost everything he needed to on the weekend to win his fourth tournament in four starts. Alas, his second straight 67 Sunday was not quite good enough, and he will not become the first player to win in four consecutive starts since Tiger Woods won five straight nine years ago. “I didn’t really know what to expect this week, because I didn’t really get to practice leading into this tournament,” Johnson said after making a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to take the clubhouse lead. “So most of my practice I’ve done since I’ve been here.” Johnson was coming off a long layoff after falling down a flight of stairs and withdrawing from the Masters Tournament, but there was nothing wrong with his long game at Eagle Point. He led the field in average driving distance (307.3 yards) and strokes gained: approach the green. His short game was only average, though, as he ranked 63rd in strokes gained: around the green. “Physically, I’m really good,” Johnson said. “Everything’s 100 percent, feeling great. I can swing at it, no problems. Still got a lot of practice to do to get ready for next week [and THE PLAYERS Championship], but looking forward to it.” SHOT OF THE DAY PEREZ: T2 ‘A BONUS’ Pat Perez hadn’t competed since a T18 finish at the Masters, so he came to Eagle Point with few expectations. At the very least, he would knock the rust off for THE PLAYERS. He did a lot more than that. Perez bounced back from a double-bogey at the 14th hole with birdies on two of his last three to tie Johnson at 9 under par before Harman made his winning putt. At 40, Perez is in the midst of his finest season yet. His T2 at the Wells Fargo was his fifth top-10 finish in 15 starts, and moves him from seventh to fifth in the FedExCup points race. “Hell of an up-and-down from back there,” Perez said of Harman. “He deserves it, he played great. I made double on 14, that killed me, but to have a look at the end, I was really excited about it.” Needing to make birdie at the last to tie Johnson, Perez got almost to the green with his second shot. His chip rolled out to just over four feet from the cup, and he rolled in the putt. “I wasn’t really expecting too much this week,” Perez said. “I didn’t do a whole lot—I was just trying to hit some shots and get ready for next week. This was just kind of a bonus being there.” RAHM STILL ROLLING At fourth in the FedExCup points race, Jon Rahm now has six top-10 finishes in his last eight starts, the highlight being his Farmers Insurance Open win at Torrey Pines. He needed a replay of his final-hole eagle at Torrey Pines on Sunday, but airmailed the green and settled for a par. “I probably hit one of the best 5-woods I’ve hit in my life, probably better than the one at 18 at Torrey,” Rahm said. “The adrenaline—it was just so flushed and it was way longer than I expected. And then that chip was really hard.” Rahm’s par was a slight buzzkill, but he was still able to see the big picture. His form remains excellent, and next week he’ll take his game to TPC Sawgrass and THE PLAYERS, where, he noted, the success of his countryman Sergio Garcia suggests Rahm could do well there, too. “I’m playing against the best in the world,” Rahm said, “and to be my first year and have as many options as anyone to win tournaments, I’m extremely happy just about that. Hope I can keep it going and maybe next week have a chance again.” CALL OF THE DAY   KAUFMAN ALL SMILES Other than keeping good company in Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, Smylie Kaufman has been having a rough go of it lately. Kaufman, 25, came to Eagle Point languishing at 203rd in the FedExCup standings after making only four cuts in 13 starts. His game was in a far different place than it was when he win the 2016 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Eagle Point, though, is nothing if not generous off the tee, and the long hitting Kaufman took to it immediately. His 4-under 68 Sunday got him to 7 under for the tournament, the leader in the clubhouse until Harman, Johnson, Perez and Rahm came in. “Yeah, I saw that,” said Kaufman, who ultimately slid down the board and into a T5 finish, still by far his best result this season. “It’s nice to be leading at something. I’ve been leading to the airport recently, so it’s nice to have my game trending in the right way.” The secret, Kaufman said, has been good, old fashioned hard work. He said he “grinded out a cut” at the Valero Texas Open, and while his T37 finish was nothing to write home about, it was at least a step in the right direction. He missed the cut again while playing with Harold Varner III at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but at least they shot a second-round 65. Then came the Wells Fargo at Eagle Point, and something to build on for real. “There’s going to be a time this year where I’ll have another opportunity to win,” Kaufman said, “and hopefully I can just reflect on my past experiences and go get it.” ODDS AND ENDS Going for his sixth PGA TOUR victory, leader Patrick Reed faded with a final-round 75 and tied for 12th. … The first three rounds, played in relentless wind, yielded just one bogey-free round apiece. In calmer conditions Sunday, Paul Casey (68), Xander Schauffele (68) and Tag Ridings (69) all went bogey-free. … Rahm was attempting to become the first international player 22 or younger with a multi-win season since Sergio Garcia in 2001. … Harman, the first lefty to win on TOUR since Greg Chalmers at the Barracuda Championship, has one top-10 finish, a T8 in 2015, in five career starts at THE PLAYERS. BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA Nice going @harmanbrian. Awesome putt big daddy!!! — Hudson Swafford (@Hud_swafford) May 7, 2017 Also shoutout to the crowds out at the @WellsFargoGolf this week! They were awesome everyday! — Zac Blair (@z_blair) May 7, 2017 Fun week at @WellsFargoGolf definitely one of my favorites. As a NC kid always fun playing at home! Congrats to @harmanbrian #seaislandmafia — J.T. Poston (@JT_ThePostman) May 7, 2017 Making birdie at the 72nd hole to win. It’s tough to top this feeling. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/jhkCMpUSgV — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 7, 2017

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HONOLULU – Australian Matt Jones was getting attention last week after a record breaking 23 under weekend in Maui, but even a favorable ruling and resulting great par save in Honolulu wasn’t enough to get the two-time PGA TOUR winner to the weekend. Jones hit his approach shot on the par-4 8th hole at Waialae Country Club just above the lip of a greenside bunker in Friday’s second round of the Sony Open, forcing him into a strange stance with one foot in and one foot out of the sand. Scrambling to try to make the cut Jones faced a stance where his body dropped well below its usual position meaning the only way he could make a stroke was by gripping halfway down his 3-wood and creating a putting like motion. However, this meant the end of the club was running up Jones’ left arm, leaving the 2021 Honda Classic winner worried he might be accused of anchoring. “I had a stance that was very unconventional and I had to grip a long way down the shaft. I just wanted to check it wasn’t classified as anchoring because as we know anchoring is somewhat banned,” Jones explained after rounds of 70-68. Jones called in Senior Tournament Referee Stephen Cox for clarification and was given the all-clear by the veteran official. “It was very easy for Coxy to see I wasn’t trying to subvert any rules,” Jones added. “I was trying to play it kind of across my body. It was more running up my arm and in between arm and body but during the stroke it kind of got over to my left side so I just wanted to be sure before I did anything.” Cox spent a minute or so with Jones running through the scenario which coincidentally had happened over on the first green with Lucas Glover and another official earlier in the round and as such had been a point of discussion amongst the committee. “The awkward nature of Matt’s stance resulted in him gripping the club down the shaft and as a result the club was going to extend beyond the forearm and might touch the upper arm or the side of the body while making the stroke,” Cox added. “I felt that as he was not deliberately holding the club against a part of the body above the forearm it would not be considered anchoring. Any accidental contact during the stroke is not prohibited by the Rule.” Rule 10.1b. outlaws players using an anchor point for a stroke or from making deliberate contact with their clothing during a stroke. However inadvertent contact is specifically not a breach to ensure circumstances just like those Jones and Glover faced are not penalized. The Australian also mentioned some minor exposure of bunker lining in his discussion with Cox but it was of no consequence. “Matt also had questions relating the to the bunker liner which was not considered abnormal,” Cox confirmed. “As per PGA TOUR Local Rules, exposed bunker liners may be treated as ground under repair for lie of ball or area of intended swing but no relief is provided for stance.”

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Augusta National cofounder Bobby Jones once said, "There's golf. And then there's tournament golf." The greatest amateur golfer of all time understood the fundamental difference between playing for fun ... and playing for real. The nature of competitive golf is to simply get the ball in the hole in the fewest number of strokes. The player with the lowest score wins. But, as everyone who has ever entered a golf tournament knows, there's nothing simple about it. As soon as a player must putt everything out, as soon as you know a score will be posted by your name, the game is unforgiving. You got to get the ball in the hole. Somehow. Whatever it takes. Especially on the PGA TOUR where the quality of play is the best in the world. RELATED: Tee times, groupings | Determining where DeChambeau could drive it at Augusta | Pro long drivers discuss DeChambeau’s length Great putters, such as Jones himself, thrive on the greens. But for every Masters champion who is an outstanding putter, such as Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Tiger Woods or Jordan Speith, there are dozens of their contemporaries who could hit the ball well from tee to green, but couldn't keep up once they reached the putting surface. Players will go to great lengths to improve their putting. The Claw. Croquet. Left-handed. Eyes closed. Cross-handed. Bryson DeChambeau is the latest example. He is the hot topic entering this year's Masters because of his physical transformation, but a focus on his driving distance overlooks his drastic improvement on the greens. DeChambeau has become one of the TOUR's best putters with a unique arm-lock style, using an extremely upright putter that sits almost perpendicular to the putting surface. The narrative around DeChambeau is that he bludgeoned Winged Foot en route to winning the 2020 U.S. Open. Sure, he bombed it off the tee, but he didn't lead the field in driving that week. Rory McIlroy did. Bryson led the field in putting. He's steadily climbed in the rankings for Strokes Gained: Putting, finishing 10th in that statistic last season. He's also hitting more greens in regulation and his short game was spectacular at Winged Foot. That's the true narrative: Bryson has improved everything about his game. And that's why he's considered a serious favorite at this week's Masters. DeChambeau is the latest to experiment with a different or unique putting style in an attempt - sometimes a desperate attempt - to get the ball in the hole in fewer strokes. He's certainly not the first. Four-time U.S. Open champion Ben Hogan said, "There is no similarity between golf and putting. They are two different games; one played in the air, and the other on the ground." The legendary ball-striker would have been perfectly happy without the need for putting. "There shouldn't be any cups... just flagsticks," Hogan famously said. "And then the player who hit the most fairways and greens and got closest to the pins would be the tournament winner." Anyone who's ever four-putted has probably thought the same thing at least once. The competition on the PGA TOUR is so intense that even the slightest improvement on the greens can be a huge boost. We've seen right-handers putt left-handed. Langer is credited with bringing the arm-lock method into the spotlight after using it to win the 1993 Masters. Spieth has looked at the hole while hitting short putts. Johnny Miller putted with his eyes closed (he also won the 1976 Open Championship while focusing his eyes on a spot of red nail polish he painted on his putter). Here's a list of some of the unique styles we've seen, and photos illustrating them. • Left-arm locked - notables Bernhard Langer, Matt Kuchar, Bryson DeChambeau, Will Zalatoris • Eyes closed - Johnny Miller, Sergio Garcia • Looking at the hole - Johnny Miller, Jordan Spieth (on short putts) • Left-handed — Blaine McCallister (hit all other shots right-handed) • Left-handed and right-handed — Notah Begay (used a Bullseye putter and putted both right-handed (on putt that broke right-to-left) and left-handed (on putts that broke left-to-right) • One-handed - Mike Hulburt • Croquet style - Sam Snead (until USGA banned it) • Side saddle - Sam Snead • Long putter — Bernhard Langer, Adam Scott, Scott McCarron and many other PGA TOUR Champions players • The Claw - Chris DiMarco, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose Whatever it takes. At least for one week. Especially on the PGA TOUR.

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