Page 18 - aruba-today-20190429

A18 SPORTS
Monday 29 april 2019
Ryan Palmer and Jon Rahm team to win Zurich Classic

By BRETT MARTEL a 13-foot birdie putt on 10
AP Sports Writer and dropped in a putt from
AVONDALE, La. (AP) — nearly 24 feet to save par
Ryan Palmer and Jon Rahm on 15.
shot a 3-under 69 in the al- The Zurich format was best-
ternate-shot final round of ball in the first and third
the Zurich Classic on Sun- rounds, allowing players to
day to win the PGA Tour's be more aggressive. But
only team event by three bad shots held the poten-
strokes over Sergio Garcia tial to derail alternate shot
and Tommy Fleetwood. rounds because players
The victory was the fourth had to deal with the lies
on the tour for the 42-year- their teammates left them.
old Palmer, but first in nearly Palmer and Rahm didn't
a decade. Having last won misfire often in the final
in 2010 at the Sony Open round, but when one of
in Hawaii, Palmer waved them did, the other re-
and gave a thumbs-up to sponded well.
TV cameras as he walked Rahm slammed his driver
up the 18th fairway with a into the turf after pulling his
throng of fans applauding tee shot through trees and
his and Rahm's impending into the waste bunker on
triumph. Ryan Palmer, left, and Joh Rahm hold their tournament trophy after winning the PGA Zurich Classic 12. But Palmer responded
The 24-year-old Rahm won golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2019. with a 195-yard shot that
his third PGA Tour title — Associated Press landed just short of the
one each in three straight green, and sank a 6-foot
seasons. He finished in the Opening the final round making birdie on 17 and 18. Rahm up to nearly $3.1 mil- putt two shots later to save
top 10 for the seventh time tied atop the leaderboard From there, they just had to lion this season and Palmer par.
this year, including a tie for with Scott Stallings and avoid mistakes — and did. to about $2.3 million. One hole later, Rahm's
ninth at the Masters a cou- Trey Mullinax, Palmer-Rahm The teams of Kyoung-Hoon Three days of sunshine psyche appeared fully re-
ple weeks earlier. surged to a two-stroke lead Lee-Matt Every and Brian made the greens increas- stored as bounced a 71-
Palmer-Rahm finished with in just two holes after Stall- Gay-Rory Sabbatini tied for ingly faster, and a number yard chip off the flag on
a 26-under 262 total at the ings-Mullinax bogeyed the third, five shots behind. Four of players struggled to ad- 13 to set up Palmer's short
TPC Louisiana, which had first hole and Rahm nearly teams tied for fifth at 20 un- just on Sunday, regularly birdie putt.
dried out considerably holed out from the fringe to der, four more tied for ninth rolling putts several feet By contrast, Stallings-Mul-
since heavy rain delayed set up Palmer's 1-foot birdie at 19 under and defending past the hole. linax faded on the back
the first round by more than putt on the par-5 second. champions Billy Horschel Palmer and Rahm, how- nine, where they bogeyed
seven hours and forced Palmer-Rahm never lost and Scott Piercy were ever, thrived on the greens. the 11th and 13th and dou-
many players to play more the lead after that, mak- among five teams tied for Palmer made two putts ble-bogeyed the 16th af-
than 18 holes on Friday and ing birdies on 13 and 14 13th at 18 under. from around 6 feet one ter Mullinax's tee shot went
Saturday to get the event at virtually the same time The winners each took from 7, one from 8 and into the water left of the
back on schedule. Garcia-Fleetwood were home $1.05 million, moving one from 11. Rahm made fairway. q

Thiem beats Medvedev in straight

sets to win Barcelona Open

set all week in Barcelona, lost to the Spaniard. 13 games.
had beaten Roger Federer The 14th-ranked Medve- "I tried my best, but Domi-
in the Indian Wells final last dev, coming off a semifi- nic was too good today,"
month. nal appearance in Monte Medvedev said. "At one
Thiem is the first Austrian Carlo, was playing in his point, even just getting a
winner in Barcelona since first clay court final. He has point off him was a great
Thomas Muster, who won in reached at least the semi- achievement."
1995 and 1996. finals in five of his nine tour- It was the 13th career sin-
"Winning this means a lot to naments this season and gles title for the 25-year-old
me because it's such a tra- has a tour-best 25 wins in Thiem, the ninth on clay. He
ditional and special tour- 2019. next plays in Madrid, where
Dominic Thiem of Austria holds the trophy after winning the final
of the Barcelona Open Tennis Tournament against Daniil Med- nament," Thiem said. "Only The 23-year-old Russian he has been runner-up the
vedev of Russia in two sets 6-4, 6-0, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, great players have won started well by taking a 3-0 last two seasons.
April 28, 2019. here. lead with an early break in "A title like this always gives
Rafa has won it 11 times the first set, but he was nev- you a lot of confidence,
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — 6-0 Sunday, a day after he and it means a lot that Mus- er in contention again af- so I'll be in a good mood
Dominic Thiem capped an was dominant against Ra- ter won it twice. It's a big ter Thiem took control of a going into Madrid," Thiem
impressive week to win the fael Nadal in the semifinals moment for me." match that lasted just more said. "But the special thing
Barcelona Open on Sun- to become the first player Thiem had lost to Nadal than an hour. about tennis is that I'll start
day, securing his second other than Novak Djokovic in the Barcelona final two Thiem dropped only five from zero in Madrid. All the
title of the year. to defeat the Spaniard on years ago. It was his first fi- points in the second set, guys there are really strong,
The fifth-ranked Austrian clay four times. nal on clay since last year's winning 14 in a row at one so I'll need to be ready from
beat Daniil Medvedev 6-4, Thiem, who didn't lose a French Open, when he also stage. He won 12 of the last the first point."q