Sahith Theegala wins fans in WM Phoenix Open close call

Ready for some overseas golf? The PGA TOUR’s Asian Swing begins with this week’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia, followed by tournaments in South Korea and China. Unique venues and cultural experiences await (as do late-night viewing opportunities on the Golf Channel!). THE FLYOVER The 634-yard 18th is the most difficult par 5 on the course, playing to a stroke average of 4.763 last season. For most players, it’s a three-shot hole. Look for a back-right pin for Sunday’s final round. LANDING ZONE The 16th hole at TPC Kuala Lumpur is the easiest par 4 on the course, playing to a stroke average of 3.830 last year. That ranks in the top 10 percent of all easiest par 4s on the PGA TOUR. At 318 yards, it’s certainly drivable, although with water down the left side, it’s also potentially hazardous. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Willis Young: “A daily risk for showers and storms remain in the forecast each day through the week, although slightly drier atmospheric conditions Friday through Saturday could delay the onset of storms until the early evening hours and after play finishes. Light west to northwesterly winds are expected through the week.� For the latest weather news from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I always feel it’s important to play in the fall because you don’t want to get too far behind.Even though I won it, I’m not going to put any extra pressure on myself to win it again. BY THE NUMBERS 67 – Justin Thomas’ scoring average in 12 career rounds at the CIMB Classic. That’s the best average of any player with eight minimum rounds. 550 – Number of FedExCup points earned by Justin Rose last year during the Asian Swing. That’s the most of any player in a single year since 2013-14. 2 – Number of Malaysian players in the field – Ben Leong, who has a win and three other top 10s in his last seven starts; and Kim Leun Kwang, who qualified for the event by winning the CIMB National Championship in a playoff two weeks ago. SCATTERSHOTS TPC Kuala Lumpur has undergone a makeover since last year’s event, with TifEagle Bermuda grass now on the greens and Celebration Bermuda on the fairways and tees. That’s identical to the grass used at TPC Sawgrass, home of THE PLAYERS Championship. “I can’t even get over how good it looks,� Justin Thomas said. “It’s not that I ever had any doubt; it’s just hard to do and it’s really hard to make it look as good as they have and be in as good of shape.� It’s about a 750-mile flight from Bangkok, Thailand, where Kiradech Aphibarnrat was born, to Kuala Lumpur. Perhaps it’s fitting that his first start as an official PGA TOUR member comes so close to home. “It is such a good moment for me,� said Aphibarnat. “… It feel like home, especially the weather and people around, the golf fans.� The course should also be a comfortable one, as he won the Malaysian Open here in 2013 and also finished T-3 at the CIMB Classic that same year. There are 19 Nando’s restaurants in Kuala Lumpur. It’s likely that defending champ Pat Perez will dine out at one of them this week. “Nando’s is fantastic,� Perez said about the chain that originated in South Africa. Shubhankar Sharma leads the list of 10 players who qualified via the Asian Tour Order of Merit. He’s also one of four players from India in the field. “It just shows that we have so much depth now in golf,� Sharma said. “… It’s a limited-field event and four Indians playing, I think it’s absolutely great.�

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy found his comfort zone at Quail Hollow and left with a trophy he badly needed. RELATED: Leaderboard | Bryson DeChambeau moves to FedExCup No. 1 after wild week McIlroy closed with a 3-under 68 and made it tough on himself at the end Sunday, driving into the hazard left of the 18th fairway and needing two putts from 45 feet for a one-shot victory in the Wells Fargo Championship. What mattered was ending 18 months since his last victory in the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, along with finding a strong semblance of his game as he prepares to return to Kiawah Island for the PGA Championship. “It’s never easy,” McIlroy said. “It felt like a long time.” It showed. McIlroy seemed to be on the verge of choking up at winning on Mother’s Day, thinking of his mother, Rosie, and wife Erica. She was at Quail Hollow with their daughter, Poppy, and McIlroy doted on them before signing his card. McIlroy seized control with two splendid bunker shots, getting up-and-down for birdie on the reachable par-4 14th and the par-5 15th, and then holding on at the end. Abraham Ancer ran off three straight birdies and nearly closed with a fourth one, posting a 66 for a runner-up finish, the fourth of his career as the Mexican seeks his first PGA TOUR title. McIlroy finished at 10-under 274 for his 19th career victory, and his third at Quail Hollow. “This is one of my favorite places in the world,” said McIlroy, who picked up his first PGA TOUR title at Quail Hollow in 2010. “To break the drought and win here, it’s awesome.” It was a tough finish for Keith Mitchell, who started the final round with a two-shot lead and quickly stretched it to three shots with a 6-iron out of a fairway bunker into a stiffening breeze to 12 feet for birdie. But his short game let him down all day, leading to bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes that cost him the lead, and on the 14th hole and 15th holes when he had to settle for pars after being in position for birdies. Mitchell, whose only victory was the Honda Classic just over two years ago, needed to finish alone in second to qualify for the PGA Championship through the money list. But he dropped a shot on the 17th and closed with a 72 to tie for third with Viktor Hovland, who had a 67. Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland had a share of the lead early on the back nine until he went through a bad patch of back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13, and settling for pars on the next two scoring holes. He shot 71 and finished fifth. Bryson DeChambeau managed a tie for ninth following a 68-68 weekend that began with him flying home to Dallas thinking he had missed the cut. McIlroy, along with going 18 months without a win, slipped to No. 15 in the world, his lowest position in more than a decade. He brought on swing coach Pete Cowen for an extra set of eyes. They worked hard last week in Florida as McIlroy tried to get back to understanding what he does so well with the golf swing. Winning is not an instant cure. He hit only three fairways on Sunday, and the last one nearly got him in trouble. His ball landed on the hill left of the winding creek, just short of the water, in a deep hole of shaggy grass. He wisely chose to take a penalty drop instead of gouging it out, and he sent an 8-iron towering toward the green, landing safely in the fat of the putting surface. That brought out of the loudest cheers of a day filled with them. The Wells Fargo Championship had more energy than any tournament since golf returned from the pandemic. Just what McIlroy needed. He thought he would enjoy some quiet of no spectators. It didn’t take long for him to realize he missed the energy. “To bring out the best in myself, I needed this,” he said. And when it was over, he turned and heaved his golf ball toward the fans.

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BLAINE, Minn. – You may remember him as Col. William Lennox in “The Transformers” franchise. Or, your memory may go all the way back to his breakthrough role on “All My Children” in 1999. Josh Duhamel has worked steadily in Hollywood for more than two decades, booking starring roles in movies and on television. But the 47-year-old actor is a Midwesterner at heart, and his happy place is his 53-acre ranch in Minnesota. Duhamel, who grew up in Minot, North Dakota, was back home, of sorts, on an unseasonably cool Wednesday morning at the 3M Open. The avid golfer, who is a 3M brand ambassador, was there along with Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph, to help unveil the tournament’s “Power of Community” mural. The 10×20-foot mural, which was done by local artist Adam Turman and features 1,096 Extreme Post-It Notes, honors frontline healthcare workers and social justice initiatives. After the ceremony, Duhamel, whose family comedy “Think Like a Dog,” was released last month, took a few minutes to talk golf with PGATOUR.COM. He also stars in “Jupiter’s Legacy,” a series about superheroes and their kids, that is slated to be released on Netflix in 2021. PGATOUR.COM: When did you start playing golf? JOSH DUHAMEL: “Since I was a kid; I started back in North Dakota. I should’ve been a lefty, but my dad wouldn’t buy me clubs. So, I had to learn how to play right. Played hockey left and batted left-handed, but I had to learn to play (golf) right-handed. But it’s been a part of my childhood. The golf season back in North Dakota is about three weeks. So, I didn’t have the same amount of time we would in California, Florida or anywhere else. But it’s been a love of mine forever. “To be able to be invited, to come up to something like this and sort of spread the word about what 3M is doing for golf on the science side of it and also how they’re leveraging this to help the community, especially in a time like this, I think is amazing. So, I’m really happy to get to be a part of it.” PGATOUR.COM: You were quite an athlete growing up. You played quarterback at Minot State. Did you take to golf immediately or was it an acquired taste? DUHAMEL: “I remember as a kid, I think when you learned something like this at a young age, you don’t necessarily develop bad habits. You just get up there and swing. So, for me it was just about hitting the ball, hitting the ball, hitting the ball. The more I think about it, the worse I get. So, I have to really just go back to my childhood. For me, it’s just about joy. I don’t really care about my score anymore. I just go out there and enjoy being outdoors and just take it. You couldn’t ask me what I got for score on the last hole. I’m just out there basically daydreaming all day. And that’s what I love about the game.” PGATOUR.COM: You’ve played at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am several times. What do you like about that event? DUHAMEL: “I don’t think I’ve ever taken for granted that invite. You get that invite in the mail and it’s always like Christmas. It’s like, oh my God, I got invited back. And so, I’ve had so many great memories. I took a second in it one year. I took third another other year with Tony Finau, who I just saw walking down the fairway here. I’ve had some of the most embarrassing moments in my life, out there in front of everyone, but I’ve also had some of the most glorious moments of my life — making shots I never thought I could make, really under pressure in spots. So, for me, as an amateur it’s fun to be out there and just to get a taste of what it’d be like to be a pro golfer.” PGATOUR.COM: What is your favorite golf memory? DUHAMEL: “Golf for me is about, it’s meditative in a lot of ways. It’s been a way for me to connect with friends, with family, my sister, my mom, my dad loved golfing. It’s always been something that is just fun to go out and do. And, you know, I especially loved going out around sunset. That’s my favorite thing to do – have a beer, play nine or 18 holes, and just go out there and just, it’s been a really sort of connective tissue for both friends and family for me.” PGATOUR.COM: Did you get to play much during the pandemic? DUHAMEL: “A little bit. I spent most of my time at my cabin, actually. I have a cabin out in the woods here in Minnesota on this beautiful little lake. And so, I’ve just been using the time to get out of L.A. and go out and chop wood and clear brush and paint the deck and just do it just all. I built a little beach on my shore front. So, stuff like that and also getting to bring my son out there. So, for him to be able to come out and experience that kind of stuff, that kind of the way I grew up. You know, living in Los Angeles, I think that’s important for him.” PGATOUR.COM: How did you get involved with 3M? DUHAMEL: “They reached out to be a part of the tournament. I mean, this was, this would have been early in a year or late last year and we have a little production company that I said, well, you know, why don’t we help you guys activate some of these things like this? So, we’re shooting a lot of this stuff. We’re going to shoot the 3M Open Compass Challenge [Wednesday]. Just some of the stuff around the tournament to sort of show what this place is like, what they’re doing for the community, get a chance to maybe talk to some of the golfers, and just get a feel for the tournament. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be like it would be had virus not been around. Because it would’ve been a big thing. But still there’s so much to see. And I think it gives us a chance to show, aside from the fanfare of it all, to show what a tournament like this can do for a community.”

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