Tony Finau recalls Cameron Champ’s impromptu long-drive performance

SYDNEY – Rory McIlroy was heading toward the end of 2013 feeling pretty ordinary after a winless year. Jordan Spieth was doing the same in 2014. And now Jason Day, who started 2017 as No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking but now sits 12th on the global list, is heading into the holiday season without a new trophy to admire. On each occasion, the criticism had started. The questions about what was wrong with them had well and truly begun. We hold our superstars to a high standard you see. Under pressure, McIlroy headed to Sydney in his off-season to play the Australian Open and ultimately won it by taking down a red-hot Adam Scott on Sunday. Scott had won the Masters at Augusta that season and was coming off wins at the Australian Masters and Australian PGA Championship in earlier weeks. But McIlroy came over the top of the national hero on Sunday and ultimately went on to dominate in 2014, winning The Open Championship, the PGA Championship, the World Golf Championships–Bridgestone Invitational and the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour. He was PGA TOUR Player of the Year and laid some credit on his Australian win for the resurgence. “I did take a lot from that victory,â€� McIlroy said as he lined up for his title defense in Sydney in 2014. “It was my one and only victory of 2013 but it ended the year for me on a high and gave me momentum going into 2014.â€� But that week in Sydney wouldn’t go the same way for McIlroy. Instead, it was Spieth’s turn. The Texan shot a still much talked about 8-under 63 in brutal winds on Sunday to bury the demons he was facing for not being able to close out multiple chances to win on the PGA TOUR that year. The following season, just like McIlroy, he would win two majors and be Player of the Year. Spieth actually won five times and claimed the FedExCup in a sensational season. “The Australian Open may have been the most important tournament that I’ve ever played in because at the time, it had been maybe a year and a half since winning the John Deere in that playoff where I kind of squeaked in, luckily,â€� Spieth said. “Going there to an elite field with the world No. 1 player (McIlroy at the time) and obviously with the local favorite Adam (Scott) and with a venue like The Australian, to put myself in a position and just have a level of patience that I had not had when I was in contention prior to that was important.â€� So now, it is Day’s turn. After a year to forget that has seen his standing in the OWGR slide quickly, the now 30-year-old has a chance for his first win since THE PLAYERS Championship 2016. Through two rounds at The Australian Golf Club the 10-time PGA TOUR winner Day sits at 8-under and just one shot behind 21-year-old leader Lucas Herbert. Cameron Davis, a 22-year-old, is a shot back at 7-under with Anthony Quayle, at 23 at 6-under. Clearly Day is the favorite with two rounds to go with TOUR winners Cameron Smith and Matt Jones five off the lead and Spieth eight shots adrift. The chance to create a springboard to a comeback season has not been lost on him. “I haven’t won this year. But this would be a nice little end of the year cap, just to know that it wasn’t such a disappointing year,â€� Day said. “This is a huge kind of confidence builder for me this week and if I can somehow pull the win off, that would be great. “A win is a win, regardless of where you are, where you play. To have the Stonehaven Cup on the mantel would be great. It would be a good kick start going to next year’s season, back on the PGA TOUR. “I just know how Jordan’s done from having the confidence coming from this event and going forward and winning two majors the year after and having a lot of confidence going to the start of the year.â€� Speaking of Spieth, Day won’t rest despite the healthy gap between the pair. While those closest to Day have merely fractions of experience in winning big events, Spieth is still a factor. “If he gets something going on the weekend he can hole a lot of putts and make a lot of birdies and make a charge, and usually he does make a charge on the weekend,â€� Day said. “Seven strokes is obviously not enough but I’d like to keep pushing forward and hopefully I don’t see him in my rear view mirror at all.â€� If Day does surge ahead this weekend, be sure to remember it when picking your 2018 major winners.

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SAN DIEGO — Jason Day and Alex Noren went 77 holes in the Farmers Insurance Open, and it still wasn’t enough to decide a winner. Day holed a 6-foot birdie putt in the dark on the fifth hole of a sudden-death playoff Sunday. Noren followed with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole at Torrey Pines. They had no choice but to return Monday morning to decide the longest playoff in the 67-year history of this event. They each made birdie three times on the par-5 closing hole in the playoff. They made pars on the 16th and 17th holes, with Day having the best chance to end it on the par-3 16th until his 12-foot putt stayed on the right edge. Ryan Palmer began the playoff with them at 10-under 278. He was eliminated with a par on the 18th on the first extra hole. Day closed with a 2-under 70. Palmer hit wedge to 2 feet for birdie for a 72 to get into the playoff. Noren had a 12-foot birdie attempt in regulation to avoid the playoff and narrowly missed. By then, Tiger Woods was long gone. It was the third playoff in three weeks on the PGA TOUR, all of them lasting at least four holes. And while it was entertaining, thousands of fans weren’t around to see it. They left after Woods finished his round. In only his second PGA TOUR event since August 2015, Woods closed with a 72 and tied for 23rd, seven shots out of the lead. Woods said it was a mostly positive week, and it was hard to argue considering he was returning from his fourth back surgery. He at least was closer to the fairway in the final round, but hit only three fairways for the third straight day. “I got a lot out of my rounds,” Woods said. “The short game wasn’t something I was worried about. I knew what I could, what I’ve been doing at home. That wasn’t going to be an issue. It was going to be, `Can I shoot low scores?’ I didn’t, but I grinded out some good rounds.” The final hour of the tournament was a big grind. Day, Noren, Palmer and J.B. Holmes — the latter three in the final group — were tied for the lead with six holes to go. Day twice missed the green with a short iron in his hand, and one of those shots led to bogey. He didn’t make a birdie on the back nine in regulation. Noren appeared to have the steadiest game until he pulled his tee shot into the hazard on the 14th hole and did well to escape with bogey. Noren also made a pair of 7-foot par putts to stay in a share of the lead, and then he missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation. Palmer, trying to win for the first time in eight years, made consecutive bogeys from the bunker on No. 14 and short of the 15th green. He came up big on the 72nd hole with a wedge to 2 feet to get into the playoff. Holmes effectively fell out of the hunt when he missed the 15th green with a wedge and took bogey, and then missed a 4-foot par putt on the 16th hole. He needed an eagle on the final hole, and took some 4 minutes trying to decide on which club to hit. He finally, curiously, decided to lay up and try to make his 3 by holing a sand wedge. He laid up in the rough and didn’t come close to holing the shot. Noren went next and hit his fairway metal over the green, into the tunnel below the TV tower and out the other side. He took his relief, and smartly played away from the flag to keep it from running by the hole and possibly down the slope into the water. But he missed the putt. The fifth playoff hole was nearly too dark to play. Day played a beautiful wedge to 6 feet behind the hole and had to rely on the crowd’s cheering. “I can’t see it,” he said to his caddie. Noren played a 3-wood off the tee and a hybrid onto the green. His eagle putt for the win raced 5 feet by, and the Swede calmly rolled it in, as he had done so often over the final two hours Sunday. “It’s too dark. I could barely see the last putt,” Noren said. “But it’s very enjoyable. This is what I play for. I’m excited.” The Sony Open in Hawaii took six holes before Patton Kizzire won. The CareerBuilder Challenge went four holes before Jon Rahm prevailed. Rahm had a chance to reach No. 1 in the world with a repeat victory at Torrey Pines. He was two shots out of the lead until going into the water and making double bogey on the 18th hole of the third round. On Sunday, the 23-year-old Spaniard fell back early and never recovered. He closed with a 77. Day is trying to end 20 months without a victory, the most recent one in May 2016 at THE PLAYERS Championship when he was No. 1 in the world. “I’ll play all day tomorrow if I need to get the win,” Day said. Noren is a nine-time winner on the European Tour who is No. 19 in the world, trying to make his mark in America.

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TRUCKEE, Calif. — Chez Reavie won the Barracuda Championship on Sunday, holding on in the breezy final round of the PGA TOUR’s lone modified Stableford scoring event for his third TOUR title. Six points ahead entering the day, Reavie had a six-point round for a one-point victory over Alex Noren on Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood layout. The 40-year-old Reavie became the first PGA TOUR winner aged 40 or over since Lucas Glover a year ago in the 2021 John Deere Classic. The Arizona player finished with 43 points. “I’ve been working hard,” Reavie said. “I’ve been hitting the ball and I knew I could do it. I just kept grinding, and here we are.” With the event also sanctioned by the DP World Tour, Reavie earned spots on both the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour through the 2024 seasons. “I’ll get over there,” Reavie said. “I had no idea that that was on the table until I finished. I’m excited. I would love to go to Europe and play and maybe go play in the BMW or something. I’d enjoy that a lot. He also won the 2008 RBC Canadian Open and 2019 Travelers Championship. Reavie had four birdies and two bogeys Sunday. Players get five points for eagle and two for birdie, while a point is deducted for bogey and three taken away for double bogey or worse. “It was stressful out there today with the wind and missing some putts early,” Reavie said. “Was fortunate to make some good putts coming in and pull it off.” Reavie birdied the par-5 12th and made his last birdie on the par-4 16th, holing a 15-footer after his flop approach hit a seam in the grass and shot forward. He got up-and-down for par from a greenside bunker on the par-3 17th, holing a 5-footer, and tapped in for par on the par-4 18th. “I just stayed patient,” Reavie said. “I knew I was going to have to. I knew some guys were going to make a lot of birdies early. I was hoping to be one of those guys, but the putter was kind of letting me down early. Just tried to keep it as close as I could to the hole and give myself some good looks.” Noren had a 14-point round. The Swede is a 10-time winner on the DP World Tour who joined the PGA TOUR in 2018. “I love this course,” Noren said. “It was pretty tricky today with the wind. It’s been a roller-coaster of a week, obviously, but when you make the cut, you think, well, this is a great week anyway, and then I played good on the weekend and had a blast today.” Martin Laird was third at 38 after a seven-point day. “Really tough out there in the wind.,” Laird said. “It was gusting all over the place. I think I started six back of Chez, so I knew he was obviously playing really well. I’d have to play a pretty special round today to catch him.” Mark Hubbard finished fourth at 37, and Scott Gutschewski was fifth at 35.

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