Watson ends drought with third win at Riviera

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Justin Thomas nearly holed a wedge that got him into a playoff, and then hit 3-wood over the water and onto the 18th green for a two-putt birdie to beat Luke List on the first extra hole Sunday to win The Honda Classic. Thomas closed with a 2-under 68 and won for the second time this season. He also won in a playoff at the CJ Cup in South Korea last fall. Thomas and List matched birdies and tough pars over the final eight holes, and List appeared to have a big advantage on the par-5 18th when he hit a big drive that left him a 4-iron he hit onto the back of the green. Thomas was in the left rough and had to lay up instead of taking on the water. He hit a wedge from 117 yards that landed a few feet in front of the hole and rolled some 6 inches to the side of the cup, settling 2 feet away. List, going for his first PGA TOUR victory, blinked first in the playoff by missing his drive well to the right amid palm trees. He blasted that out left and against the grandstand, and then he watched Thomas take on the water and hit the green in two. Thomas tapped in a 4-footer for is birdie and the eighth win of his career. He is now No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. Alex Noren was tied for the lead playing the 18th and caught an awkward lie from the side of a bunker. He made par for a 67 and finished one shot behind. Thomas and List finished at 8-under 272. It was the seventh playoff in 15 PGA TOUR events this season. Tiger Woods was briefly within three shots of the lead on the front nine. He closed with a 70 and finished 12th. He led the field in proximity to the hole on his approach shots at just over 29 feet.

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The Valero Texas Open, first played in 1922, is the third oldest tournament on the PGA TOUR; only the BMW Championship (1899) and RBC Canadian Open (1904) are older. Played in San Antonio every year, the Valero Texas Open also is the oldest professional golf tournament to have been held in the same city in its entire existence. One of the tournaments canceled by the PGA TOUR this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Valero Texas Open certainly has a rich history. Here’s a look at some of the milestones from San Antonio. RELATED: All-time Power Rankings: Valero Texas Open | Hogan vs. Snead free on PGA TOUR LIVE Five years ago … 2015: FedExCup points leader and Boerne, Texas, resident Jimmy Walker began the final round four strokes ahead of Texan Jordan Spieth and, despite a pair of early bogeys on Nos. 4 and 7, was never threatened. Walker shot a 2-under 70 and a four-stroke victory over Spieth for his second victory of the 2014-15 campaign. 10 years ago … 2010: Australian Adam Scott made his debut in San Antonio a successful one as he captured the first event held at the new TPC San Antonio Oaks Course with a one-shot victory over Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson. The tough conditions pushed Scott’s winning score of 274, nine shots higher than in 2009, won by Zach Johnson. Scott trailed by five shots after the first day and didn’t take the lead until his final round 67, part of a rare 36-hole final day, thanks to a Friday rainout. 15 years ago … 2005: Robert Gamez, whose father attended high school in San Antonio and who has family in the area, shot an opening-round 62, the lowest first-round score by a winner in 50 years, to break a PGA TOUR record victory drought of 15 years, 6 months. It was the third TOUR win of his career, but the first since the 1990 Nestle Invitational. He defeated Olin Browne by three shots after shooting a final-round 64. 20 years ago … 2000: Dallas native Justin Leonard continued the long tradition of stellar Texas winners as he turned in four outstanding rounds to dominate another strong field at La Cantera for a five-shot victory over Mark Wiebe. Leonard, who had previously finished second twice in San Antonio, took control with a third-round 65 and cruised to victory, joining Lone Star heroes such as Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Lee Trevino and Ben Crenshaw as Valero Texas Open champions. 25 years ago … 1995: Duffy Waldorf, who played with his own personal messages of encouragement written on his golf balls, won in the first Valero Texas Open played at the new La Cantera Golf Club. Waldorf fired a final-round 66, two shots off the course record set by first-round leader Loren Roberts, to cruise to a six-shot victory over Justin Leonard. Waldorf led after the second round and never looked back for his first TOUR victory. 30 years ago … 1990: Mark O’Meara rallied from four shots off the pace with a final-day 63 for a one-shot victory over Gary Hallberg. O’Meara, who had finished earlier in the day, was on the Oak Hills Country Club driving range warming up for a possible playoff when he got the news that Hallberg three-putted the 18th green to hand him the victory. Nick Price started the final day with a two-shot lead over Hallberg. 40 years ago … 1980: Popular Texan Lee Trevino fired a final-round 65 to defeat Terry Diehl by a single shot. Fuzzy Zoeller was two shots back in third place. Bill Rogers led after 36 holes, only to have Zoeller go one up heading into the final day. The Dallas-born Trevino charged on the final day to gain his first San Antonio pro golf victory. 50 years ago … 1970: Ron Cerrudo captured the second and final victory of his TOUR career with a five-shot win over Dick Lotz. Cerrudo opened with an even-par 71, then fired three rounds in the 60s for the fairly easy victory. Miller Barber and Rod Funseth tied for third, six shots behind the winning pace. Cerrudo played 194 more TOUR events without a win. 60 years ago … 1960: Arnie’s Army was out in full force as Arnold Palmer took a two-shot win over Doug Ford and Frank Stranahan at Fort Sam Houston Golf Course. Palmer, the reigning Masters champion, overcame sub-freezing temperatures that froze the greens and delayed the start of Thursday’s first round. It was the last TOUR event held at an active-duty military golf course. 70 years ago … 1950: Sam Snead captured his second Valero Texas Open title with a pair of 63s in the final two rounds for a one-shot win over Masters champion Jimmy Demaret. Snead opened with a 71 but improved to 68 in the second round. He overcame a hailstorm on the final day for the win. 75 years ago … 1945: Sammy Byrd outdueled Byron Nelson by a single shot and Jug McSpaden by two. Byrd shot a final-round 66, which allowed him to overcome Nelson on the last day before large wartime crowds at Willow Springs. Six weeks later at a TOUR event in Miami, Nelson began his TOUR-record streak of 11 consecutive wins. The first Valero Texas Open … 1922: Scotsman Bob MacDonald won the first Texas Open by one shot over Cyril Walker at Brackenridge Park. Playing for an unheard of total purse of $5,000 and first place money of $1,500, the tournament attracted the best players of its era who were spending part of the winter in San Antonio. MacDonald fired a final-round 70 for the victory as Walker missed an 8-foot putt on the final hole.

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