If you found space in your field of vision for The American Express this morning – and it’s OK if you didn’t, with the LPGA’s Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions serving as a worthy alternative – you were treated to a rather entertaining finish at PGA West’s Stadium course. In the end, an all-world round from Patrick Cantlay came up just short, and Si Woo Kim picked up his first victory in nearly four years. Here are six takeaways from a birdie-filled day in the Californian desert.
Si Woo Kim gets back in the winner’s circle
Maybe it wasn’t a fluke after all. Si Woo Kim’s victory at the 2017 Players Championship has long been considered something of a one-hit wonder – the South Korean was young and he caught fire for one week, and he hasn’t done much of anything since.
That was the narrative, at least. But when you watch Kim swing a club, you always sensed there was more brilliant golf in his future. It came this week in the desert, though it was anything but easy. Trailing by one shot deep into the back-nine after Patrick Cantlay would not stop making birdies, the 25-year-old summoned birdies on the 16 and 17th holes – the latter coming from 19 feet on the island-ish green, punctuated by a forceful fist pump – to leapfrog his way into winning position.
Still, Kim needed a par on the dangerous 18th, where water looms left the entire way down the home hole. He found the fairway then hit a perfect-for-the-circumstances approach, an 8-iron from 150 that pitched just right of the green and kicked into the centre. It was a fitting end to a steely performance; Kim played steadily all afternoon and was not afraid to get aggressive when he needed to. Like on the par-5 11th, when he went with driver off the deck en route to a birdie. This win was thoroughly deserved.
WINNER’S BAG: The clubs Si Woo Kim used to win The American Express
Cantlay produces one of the best rounds you’ll ever see
Patrick Cantlay is a golf cyborg. We suspected this already, but today was the type of indisputable evidence that prompts juries to start packing their bags early. After making the cut on the number, Cantlay shot a 65 yesterday to pull within four shots of the lead. Then today, he made 11 birdies en route to a course-record 61 and forced Kim to birdie 16 and 17 for a one-shot victory. Cantlay’s course record was one of the best rounds of golf you’ll ever see, and there’s a legitimate possibility he did not smile once the entire day.
Yep, when Cantlay gets that robotic stare in his eyes, you know he’s going stupid-low. Just three months ago and 300 kilometres away, Cantlay shot a seven-under 65 to leapfrog Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm and win the Zozo Championship. Seeking a second victory in his home state of California, the Long Beach native simply ran out of holes – but he’ll take heaps of positives after shooting 18-under on the weekend. And he has a few more tournaments in California coming up. All is good in the Cantlay household.
Finau comes up short, again
Tony Finau is going to win another PGA Tour event. It’s not a statistical certainty, of course, but it’s pretty damn close. And yet, afternoons like this one make you wonder if there’s some supernatural powers conspiring against him.
It’s not even that he got any particularly bad breaks in the final round, when his four-under 68 saw him squander yet another chance to get that long-awaited second victory. But how else do you explain a player of such immense talent, who gives himself opportunity after opportunity, consistently falling short?
It looked like today might be the day after he birdied the first and second holes to get his nose ahead by two. But the round stalled from then on, and his chances died in spectacular fashion on the par-5 11th. After a 300-metre drive, Finau went for the green with a driving iron, trying to sling in a low draw. It turned too much and found the water that guards the left side of the green, but after a drop and a chip to three feet, it looked like crisis averted. He then pulled his par effort, made bogey to fall three behind, and looked completely dejected from then on.
Nice to see you, Mr Davis
Cameron Davis has been ‘brewing’ a strong finish for a while on the PGA Tour, but it was pleasing to see the Sydneysider stay in contention right until the final two holes in California.
Davis recorded the best finish of his young PGA Tour career, an outright third place worth $US462,000. His closing 64 including an outward nine of 30 and eight birdies for the round.
“It was nice to see a low score on the board, but it’s the sort of day when I guess everyone up near the top of the leaderboard’s going low as well,” he said. “So would have been cool to get a couple more [birdies], but I did a pretty good job.”
We’ll see Davis in action later this week at Torrey Pines and then at the Genesis Invitational at Riveria Country Club in February. With any luck, his world ranking might climb high enough to see him earn starts at the WGC–Dell Match Play in late March and (fingers crossed) the Masters a few weeks later…
Nice to see you, Mr Molinari
Francesco Molinari finished tied for eighth this week. Devoid of context, that’s not exactly front-page news. But when you consider just how much he’s struggled since losing to Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters, this week marked serious progress.
The 2018 Open Championship winner at Carnoustie has tumbled all the way outside the top 100 in the world ranking as he’s struggled with injuries, a lack of form and confidence. He recently moved his family from Europe to southern California seeking a fresh start, and the early returns are positive – he shot four straight rounds under par and picked up his first top-10 since, you guessed it, the 2019 Masters.
Tough day for Max Homa
Everyone was pulling for Golf Twitter’s darling, who has been refreshingly candid about really diving into the mental side of this torturous game. He played three terrific rounds at PGA West to enter this final round tied for the lead, but he made just one birdie in shooting a closing 76 and finishing T-21. That’s a brutal, expensive final day. At some point on the back nine, Golf Channel commentator Trevor Immelman suggested Homa gets a little quiet on the golf course, which is different from his outgoing personality off it. An interesting thought, for sure, but sometimes you play poorly because you just don’t have your stuff. Smart money says this was one of those days.
