Reed eagles way to 67, leads McIlroy by three

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Jon Rahm pulled out of a four-way tie with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole and then held on with pars for a 2-under 69 and a one-shot victory Sunday in the Mexico Open. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Jon Rahm, Mexico Open at Vidanta Rahm won for the first time since the U.S. Open last summer at Torrey Pines, and the relief showed in the smile and the way he pumped his arm and then pounded down his fist after tapping in for par on the 18th at Vidanta Vallarta. Tony Finau and Brandon Wu each closed with a 63, while Kurt Kitayama birdied the final hole from a back bunker for a 68. They tied for second. Rahm at No. 2 in the world was a heavy favorite and he played that way from his opening 64. He just didn’t feel any expectations. With the win, he moves to sixth in the FedExCup standings. “I like to think every time I tee it up I’m a favorite. I play to win,” Rahm said. “Fortunately, I got my seventh PGA TOUR win. It was a pretty stressful weekend, all the way to the end.” Staked to a two-shot lead going into the final round, he never trailed. But it was never easy. Rahm’s had a one-shot lead after his lone bogey of the round on the tough par-4 10th. Well ahead of him, Wu holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to join him at 16 under. Kitayama, playing in the final group with Rahm, got up-and-down from right of the green on the par-5 12th to tie. And then Finau went birdie-eagle-birdie to get in the mix and capped off his 63 with a birdie to make it a four-way tie. Rahm never lost his patience. His chip left of the green on the par-5 14th raced 12 feet by the hole, but he hit his best putt of the round and made it for birdie for a one-shot lead. His wedge to the 15th came up short and his chip ran 5 by the hole. He made that to stay in front, and then had to two-putt from 50 feet on the 16th for his par. Rahm missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th that would have given him room for error. Still, the closing par 5 at Vidanta Vallarta is easy reachable, and Rahm birdied it the three previous times. This time, his fade stayed straight and instead of dropping into the bunker, it nestled in deep rough on a steep slope just above the sand. He did well to punch that out just over a waste area and into the fairway. His approach to a back pin just trickled off the green, and he navigated the slick putt perfectly to a few inches. Instead of waiting for Kitayama and Cameron Champ to finish, Rahm quickly stepped in and closed the deal. “I didn’t think a par 5 that requires a fade that I’d be stressing this much,” Rahm said. “It wasn’t my best putting weekend, but I stayed aggressive. I was confident in what I was doing. I have faith in every part of my game and it showed.” Champ, who like Kitayama started the final round two shots behind, took himself out of the mix with a triple bogey on the par-4 eighth hole. He never recovered, shot 70 and finished three shots behind in a tie for sixth. Rahm has 14 victories worldwide. He had gone 17 starts without winning, matching the longest such in his career. The Spaniard has at least one victory in six full years as a pro.

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Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: No. 1 on this list has withdrawn and No. 5 has missed the cut so the Fowler (T1)-Noren (T37)-Rahm (T8) supporters will be hoping that they can make up ground in the game with big finishes on the weekend. I’m interested to see if Noren gets a hot start early tomorrow and puts pressure on the leaders. Playing for the first time at Torrey Pines last week didn’t seem to bother him! Mea Culpa I couldn’t believe how many of you left Matsuyama out of the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. I owe you all an apology for fading the two-time defending champ! Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good and gamers who either forgot or fell asleep tasted that feeling this week. As for the rest of you who lined him up, it’s time to sub him out and make up some ground on the weekend. More proof that NOTHING is guaranteed or a sure-thing in fantasy golf! According to reports his wrist is the issue but it was also noted that his shoulder was being worked on this morning as well. Stay tuned. In-and-Out Berger With two top 10s in his last three visits, Floridian Daniel Berger isn’t going “animal-style” just yet but he’s off to an excellent start (68-65). I wouldn’t expect him to slow down as he’s pounding it tee-to-green and has made the second-most birdies after two rounds. His bogey-free 65 (-6) moved him into the top five. Say Chez! Former Arizona State Sun Devil Chez Reavie posted 65 (-6) in one of the final groups of the day and enters the weekend T3. It’s his best round on the new design and the first time in four tries he’ll play the weekend. His best finish is T41 and he’s missed six weekends in nine events at TPC Scottsdale over the years. Sometimes down really is up! Stalling Out? Scott Stallings also threw up 65 this afternoon and moved up over 20 spots into the top 10. His round on Friday tied his lowest since July when he posted 65 at the Barbasol Championship. He finished T3 that week but hasn’t enjoyed a check bigger than T39 in his last 11 events. Please note he hit all 18 greens today after hitting just 10 yesterday. Forks Up There’s nothing better when watching a big tournament than having Phil Mickelson in the action. Well, maybe except having him live on your fantasy roster! He checked in No. 8 on the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO so there are plenty of faithful followers out there. He rewarded them by firing 65 and moving 38 spots into the top 10 after opening with 70 yesterday. The former Arizona State Sun Devil will no doubt be the crowd favorite on the weekend but is looking for his first win on TOUR since the 2013 Open Championship. He’s carded 65 on SATURDAY the last two years and followed both of those rounds with 71 on Sunday. … Desert Fox Canadian Adam Hadwin has finished in the top six the last three years in at the CareerBuilder Challenge. The last two years he’s cashed T17 and T12 at TPC Scottsdale with never breaking par in the first round. This year he opened with 70 and followed it up with 65, his best round from 10 tries. Like Mickelson, he jumped up into the top 10 and his primed for the weekend. Subs Necessary Jordan Spieth missed the cut for the first time since May at the AT&T Byron Nelson. It is time for gamers to narrow down their starts on him to courses he LOVES, not likes, especially in limited use games. … Webb Simpson and Ryan Palmer also carried heavy action this week and rightfully so, but both are heading home early. … Brandon Harkins MC and breaks up a streak of eight in a row. … Just as I was laying the groundwork for the Harris English revival, he heads home early. … The streak is now three for Tony Finau in the MC department at this event. Sometimes you have to trust the numbers! Study Hall Alex Cejka withdrew with an illness prior to Round 2. … Lee Westwood made 11 birdies while posting 62 at the Maybank Malaysian Open. He’s not leading though. … Robert Garrigus almost pulled an “Andrew Magee” in Round 2 on the drivable par-4 No. 17 hole. His tee shot dinged the flag and stopped an inch from an albatross. Andrew Magee, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, is the only player in the history of the TOUR to make a 1 on a par-4 hole. #TheMoreYouKnow.

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