Women’s Regionals see their share of upsets, including NCAA host school Oklahoma State failing to advance

JACKSON, Miss. — Sebastián Muñoz of Colombia made a 15-foot birdie on the 17th hole and saved par at the end Saturday afternoon for a 9-under 63, giving him a one-shot lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship as he tries to give South America back-to-back winners on the PGA TOUR. Muñoz had four birdies in the opening five holes at the Country Club of Jackson, and kept near the lead the rest of the way with Carlos Ortiz of Mexico until his final birdie. Muñoz was at 16-under 200, one shot ahead of Ortiz, who had a 65. Byeong Hun An, who started the third round with a two-shot lead, shot 70 and was two shots behind. Joaquin Niemann became the first player from Chile to win on the PGA TOUR last week at the Greenbrier. Muñoz will try to become the first Colombian since Camilo Villegas to win.

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NAPA, Calif. – After a long, slow slog in the rain, everything changed in an instant. Max Homa pitched in from 33 feet, Danny Willett three-putted from 3 1/2, and it was over. With the stunning birdie-bogey exchange at the par-5 finishing hole at Silverado Resort & Spa, Homa had successfully defended his Fortinet Championship title. “That was crazy,” he said after a final-round 68 that netted his fifth PGA TOUR victory by a shot over Willett and three shots over rookie Taylor Montgomery (64). “I still don’t really know what happened. It was one of those weekends you just had to hang around.” Homa has now won three times in just over a year and will head into this week’s Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club as arguably the fastest rising player on the U.S. Team. His wife, Lacey, who is expecting the couple’s first child, a boy, in early November, followed the action despite the weather. Although this was the fifth win for Homa and caddie Joe Greiner, it was the first witnessed by Greiner’s fiancé, Mayla. All were planning on boarding a private jet that would arrive in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the dark early Tuesday morning. For most of Sunday afternoon at soggy Silverado it looked like Homa would finish second. He had hit his second shot into the front bunker on 18 when Willett knocked his approach tight. It looked like Willett, who finished third at the 2015 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, would have another indelible memory of playing great in Northern California. Then everything changed. “It was probably the most unexpected finish,” said Greiner. “As a caddie you’re always expecting the unexpected, but once Danny hit his approach to three or four feet, I felt our chances of making the bunker shot were pretty low. I just told (Homa) to hit it on the green and make the putt to at least make him have to make it to win.” Willett, 34, was closing in on his first TOUR title since the 2016 Masters. Once his opponent’s third shot from the bunker didn’t reach the green, the tournament looked over. “The sand was a little wet,” said Greiner, “and he didn’t have much green to work with. He was doing his best to spin it as much as he could and just came underneath it a bit.” Said Homa, “I kind of had to assume he was going to make it and I kind of went for the hero bunker shot and didn’t quite catch it.” No matter, he chipped in from 33 feet, nearly taking off Greiner’s hand with a high-five as the fans erupted. Willett smiled, then unraveled. “I hit it obviously far too hard,” he said of his birdie try, which flew by the hole and left him a longer putt for par, from 4 feet, 8 inches. “And on the way back … I thought it was straighter. Again, yeah, just ended up tailing off and missing left. “Yeah, disappointing way to finish,” he continued, “but you know, first out of the season, like I said, to be in contention, things are in a good place. Yeah, we’ll live to fight another day.” Justin Lower (73, T4) took a one-shot lead into Sunday, but it came down to Homa and Willett on the back nine. Homa would have been the favorite, coming off a career-best, two-win season and advancing to the TOUR Championship first the first time, where he tied for 5th. But while he briefly pulled even with birdies on 9, 10 and 11, he never led until 18. Tee times were moved up due to the forecast, and rain brought relief to drought-stricken Northern California. It also brought Homa and Willett to the forefront. Homa won the Wells Fargo Championship in May at rain plagued TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Willett smiled at the mention of bad weather. He had a three-shot lead through eight but made a three-putt bogey at the ninth as Lower and Homa each birdied to cut the lead to one. Homa and Willett pulled away with more birdies and Lower fell off the pace. A shot behind with five, four, three, two, one hole remaining, Homa told himself that the moment he tried to force the issue would be the moment he played his way out of contention. His coach, Mark Blackburn, preached patience all week. Greiner preached patience all day. And it paid off, albeit in a way no one could have expected. After he won the 2021 Fortinet, Homa admitted he sometimes had a hard time with self-belief. This year, though, upon noting he was the pre-tournament favorite, he was good with it. “Oddly, it felt OK,” he said. “It didn’t feel like too much pressure.” Added Greiner before they all headed to the airport, “That’s part of mine and Mark’s deal is to tell him how good he is, and the day he believes it he might not even need us at all.”

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How the field qualified for the The RSM Classic as of 11/13/2020. Check here for updates. Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Day Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship Webb Simpson Winner – The Masters Danny Willett Winner – The Open Championship Zach Johnson Shane Lowry Henrik Stenson Winner – World Golf Championship Event Kevin Kisner Justin Rose Winners of the Arnold Palmer, Memorial, Genesis (Last 3 Years) Jason Dufner Tyrrell Hatton Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Ryan Armour Keegan Bradley Stewart Cink Corey Conners Austin Cook Tyler Duncan Dylan Frittelli Brice Garnett Brian Gay Jim Herman Charles Howell III Sungjae Im Sung Kang Michael Kim Patton Kizzire Russell Knox Satoshi Kodaira Jason Kokrak Matt Kuchar Martin Laird Andrew Landry Nate Lashley Adam Long Graeme McDowell Troy Merritt Keith Mitchell Sebastián Muñoz Joaquin Niemann Cheng Tsung Pan Pat Perez Scott Piercy J.T. Poston Ted Potter, Jr. Ian Poulter Andrew Putnam Chez Reavie Brandt Snedeker Brendan Steele Hudson Swafford Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Richy Werenski Aaron Wise Career Money Exemption K.J. Choi Luke Donald Hunter Mahan Bo Van Pelt Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Jonathan Byrd Bill Haas Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Andy Sullivan Davis Thompson Lee Westwood Bernd Wiesberger PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Anthony Cordes Past Champion of Respective Event Mackenzie Hughes Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Harris English Kevin Streelman Matthew Fitzpatrick Brian Harman Joel Dahmen Mark Hubbard Tom Hoge Alex Noren Adam Hadwin Harry Higgs Russell Henley Talor Gooch Louis Oosthuizen Robby Shelton Maverick McNealy Doc Redman Denny McCarthy Henrik Norlander Charley Hoffman Xinjun Zhang Sepp Straka Harold Varner III Cameron Tringale Cameron Davis Vaughn Taylor Patrick Rodgers Brian Stuard Tommy Fleetwood Emiliano Grillo Matt Jones Kyoung-Hoon Lee Scott Harrington Matthew NeSmith Sam Ryder Adam Schenk Wyndham Clark Sam Burns Scott Brown Beau Hossler Lucas Glover Luke List Scott Stallings Rory Sabbatini Tom Lewis Bo Hoag Top 125 (Prior Season Nonmember) William Gordon Major Medical Extension Charl Schwartzel Kevin Chappell Chris Kirk Kevin Stadler James Hahn Sean O’Hair Jamie Lovemark Camilo Villegas John Huh D.A. Points 2018-19 Top 125 FEC/2019 Top Finishers Korn Ferry Tour Cat. Fabián Gómez Rafa Cabrera Bello Bronson Burgoon Chase Seiffert Nick Watney Kyle Stanley Matt Wallace Chesson Hadley Peter Malnati Rob Oppenheim Jhonattan Vegas Hank Lebioda Joseph Bramlett Cameron Percy Robert Streb Tim Wilkinson Brandon Hagy D.J. Trahan Kristoffer Ventura Mark Anderson Sebastian Cappelen Aaron Baddeley David Hearn Tyler McCumber Chris Baker Branden Grace

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