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SPORTS Monday 4 February 2019

Fowler overcomes strange triple bogey to win Phoenix Open

By JOHN MARSHALL Fowler also had a double a two-shot lead with two he stood on the green sur- there, that was a (four-)
AP Sports Writer bogey on the par-4 fifth holes to go before losing veying his next shot, his ball shot swing pretty quickly. It
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — hole, becoming the first in a playoff to Hideki Mat- rolled back into the water sucks, but it’s just kind of put
Standing above a green- that behind me.”
side bunker at TPC Scott- Grace made a 50-foot
sdale’s difficult par-4 11th birdie putt just ahead on
hole, Rickie Fowler turned the par-3 12th and they
just in time to see his ball, were tied at 15 under when
one he had just placed af- Fowler couldn’t get up-
ter penalty, trickle into the and-down from the bunker
water. on the same hole. Grace
Fowler had already seen went up one with a 3-foot
his share of bad luck at the birdie putt on No. 13.
Phoenix Open. Now balls Fowler refused to cave.
were rolling into hazards on He reached the par-5 15th
their own. in two from 239 yards out
Unable to catch a break, and his two-putt birdie
Fowler took it upon himself pulled him into a tie for the
to create his own. lead. Grace then pulled his
Fowler shook off a bizarre tee shot into the water at
triple bogey on No. 11 the short par-4 17th, hit his
with clutch shots down the third shot into the bunker
stretch, finally winning the after a penalty and took
tournament Sunday that a bogey, giving Fowler a
had twice eluded him. one-shot lead.
“I didn’t think it would be Fowler drove the green on
easy, but the way I was the 336-yard 17th and two-
playing this week, I thought putted for birdie to stretch
it would have been easier,” his lead to two shots.
Fowler said. “It was kind of The drama didn’t end
grind it out. I had a couple there.
of tough breaks and had to Grace got up-and-down
deal with the punches — a for par from short right of
couple big ones — but it the 18th green, finishing at
feels good now.” 15 under after a 2-under 69.
After a pair of 64s and a Fowler pulled his tee shot
65, Fowler shot 3-over 74 in on 18 left, landing in the tall
the final round on a soggy Rickie Fowler holds the champion’s trophy after the final round of the Phoenix Open PGA golf grass between the church
Sunday at TPC Scottsdale, tournament, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in Scottsdale, Ariz. pew bunkers. He hacked
highest by a winner in tour- Associated Press the ball out short of the
nament history. He finished green and got up-and-
at 17-under 267 to beat PGA Tour player to win with suyama, twice hitting it into without being touched. down for the long-awaited
Branden Grace by two a double bogey and triple the water on the drivable PGA Tour rules official Slug- victory.
shots for his fifth PGA Tour bogey or worse since 1983. par-4 17th. ger White determined “I think he’s going to get
title. “He really dug down and None of it compared to Fowler’s ball was in play af- more out of something like
Fowler had another over- pulled it off,” Grace said. what happened to him ter the drop, so he was as- that, showing resilience
par round with a 54-hole Fowler has experienced his Sunday. sessed a one-shot penalty. and coming back like that,
lead — he’s 7 for 7 there share of heartbreak at the Leading by four to start the Fowler got up-and-down as opposed to going out
— but birdied two of his fi- Phoenix Open. He had the day, he was up five shots from there, knocking in a there and winning by four
nal four holes to win from 54-hole lead last year and stepping onto the tee on 17-foot putt for triple-bogey or five,” said Justin Thomas,
the third-round lead for the shot a 2-over 73 to finish six No. 11. The lead was one 7 — his seventh double bo- who finished third, three
second time, with the 2017 shots behind Gary Wood- after a bizarre sequence of gey or worse when playing behind Fowler after a 72.
Honda Classic the other. landr. In 2016, Fowler blew events at the long par 4. with a 54-hole lead. Maybe in the future. Right
With rain picking up, Fowler “That was a big kind of turn- after the round, Fowler was
hit his approach shot right around,” Fowler said. “At wiped out after the emo-
of the green and his chip worst I make bogey with a tional roller coaster.
skipped past the flag into semi-decent chip and I’m “I never want to go through
the water, incurring a two- still very much in control of anything like that again,”
shot penalty. He dropped the tournament. But with he said. “That was not
next to a bunker and, as everything that happened fun.”q