Simpson savors Wyndham win
Source: Agencies |
August 23, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AMERICAN Webb Simpson won the Wyndham Championship by three strokes on Sunday to capture his first PGA title after two near-misses earlier this season.
The 26-year-old kept his cool to shoot a final-round 3-under 67 and finish on 18-under at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.
George McNeil climbed up the leaderboard with a 64 to claim second place and fellow American Tommy Gainey was a further shot back at 14-under while Fiji's former world No. 1 Vijay Singh was among a group of five players who tied for fourth at 13-under.
Simpson became the 12th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season but perhaps one of the least surprising after his previous close-shaves.
In March, Simpson finished runner-up by one stroke to Gary Woodland at the Transition Championship in Florida after he made a bogey at the final hole. In May, he was beaten by Bubba Watson in a playoff at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
"I never thought that winning on the PGA Tour would be this hard, all the pressure and everything that goes on to win a golf tournament," Simpson said. "But I'm extremely pleased."
Simpson led by two shots heading into the final round after a brilliant finish to his third round on Saturday, where he made four birdies and an eagle in his last six holes. He did not drop a single shot in a bogey-free round on Sunday and made two late birdies to surge clear and claim the title and go into the FedEx Cup playoffs, starting in New Jersey this week, ranked third overall.
The tournament marked the last chance for players to climb into the top 125 rankings and qualify for the playoffs and two former major winners snuck in after strong performances.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who called off a family holiday to try and qualify, finished at 6-under to move from 130th to 124 while South Africa's Ernie Els moved up eight places to 118th after finishing at 8-under. But American Justin Leonard was among those who missed out, despite finishing at 10-under. He narrowly missed a 13-foot putt on the 18th hole that would have got him into the field but ended up ranked 126th.
The 26-year-old kept his cool to shoot a final-round 3-under 67 and finish on 18-under at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.
George McNeil climbed up the leaderboard with a 64 to claim second place and fellow American Tommy Gainey was a further shot back at 14-under while Fiji's former world No. 1 Vijay Singh was among a group of five players who tied for fourth at 13-under.
Simpson became the 12th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season but perhaps one of the least surprising after his previous close-shaves.
In March, Simpson finished runner-up by one stroke to Gary Woodland at the Transition Championship in Florida after he made a bogey at the final hole. In May, he was beaten by Bubba Watson in a playoff at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
"I never thought that winning on the PGA Tour would be this hard, all the pressure and everything that goes on to win a golf tournament," Simpson said. "But I'm extremely pleased."
Simpson led by two shots heading into the final round after a brilliant finish to his third round on Saturday, where he made four birdies and an eagle in his last six holes. He did not drop a single shot in a bogey-free round on Sunday and made two late birdies to surge clear and claim the title and go into the FedEx Cup playoffs, starting in New Jersey this week, ranked third overall.
The tournament marked the last chance for players to climb into the top 125 rankings and qualify for the playoffs and two former major winners snuck in after strong performances.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who called off a family holiday to try and qualify, finished at 6-under to move from 130th to 124 while South Africa's Ernie Els moved up eight places to 118th after finishing at 8-under. But American Justin Leonard was among those who missed out, despite finishing at 10-under. He narrowly missed a 13-foot putt on the 18th hole that would have got him into the field but ended up ranked 126th.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
