Stenson endures
The longest week of his career was behind him. The blue World Golf Championship trophy was at his side. Henrik Stenson soaked it all in by slowly lowering his head on the table and closing his eyes.
“I’m too tired to be happy,” he said.
He played 120 holes in five days in the Accenture Match Play Championship at Marana, Ariz., – the last 35 on Sunday against Geoff Ogilvy in the final that featured five lead changes and countless mood shifts until Stenson made back-to-back birdies for a 2-and-1 victory .
Stenson will go to No. 5 in the world, taking his place among the elite – the highest ranking ever by a Swede. He earned $1.35 million to move atop the PGA European Tour Order of Merit. The last time he felt such a rush of excitement and exhaustion was five months ago when he earned the winning point for Europe in the Ryder Cup.
That was for the flag. This was for himself.
In a slugfest that came down to survival, Stenson played mistake-free over the final 10 holes and made four birdies to surge past the U.S. Open champion.
“I was struggling big time with my game,” Stenson said. “Somehow, I managed to fight my way through the round and not let Geoff run away with it.”
Trying to win his 12th straight match, Ogilvy had a 2-up lead with 10 holes to play until he lost momentum with a three-putt bogey, lost the lead with another and couldn’t stop a sensational finish by Stenson.
Stenson hit 8-iron into 2 feet on the par-3 16th, and when Ogilvy missed his 6-foot birdie, the Swede went 2-up to the par-5 17th. He reached the green in two on the 600-yard hole and lagged his 60-foot putt so close that Ogilvy conceded.
“That’s just the way it goes,” said Ogilvy, who earned $800,000 for the runner-up finish. “He wasn’t at his best, either, but he got it done when he needed to.”
Stenson became only the second European to win the Accenture Match Play Championship, joining Darren Clarke, who won in 2000.
The key for Stenson turned out to be the 334-yard 12th. He bladed a sand wedge to roll in a 25-foot birdie in the morning for a 1-up lead, then blasted out to 6 feet for birdie in the afternoon to take the lead again.
As badly as Ogilvy faded on the closing holes, he showed why he has done so well in this format. The 29-year-old Aussie flew the green on the 13th, only to make a 12-foot par putt to halve the hole. Ogilvy short-sided himself in the bunker on the par-3 14th and blasted out 18 feet by the hole, but again made par to stay within one.
Stenson gave him a thumbs-up sign walking off the green, then buried him two holes later with the 8-iron that plopped down next to the hole and sent him to victory.
In the 18-hole consolation match, Trevor Immelman began the back nine with three straight birdies and won, 4 and 2, over Chad Campbell to claim third place and $575,000. Campbell earned $475,000.
Mayakoba Golf Classic
Fred Funk won one for the old guys.
Playing with an achy back befitting his senior status, the 50-year-old Funk won the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, on the second hole of a playoff with Jose Coceres to became only the second man to win a PGA Tour event after winning on the Champions Tour.
Funk led the tournament – the PGA Tour’s first in Mexico – since setting the course record with an 8-under 62 Thursday. He never gave it up, but was tied several times, including from the 14th hole until sinking the birdie putt in the playoff.
The former University of Maryland coach closed with a 1-over 71 to match Coceres (69) at 14-under 266 on the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon course. Funk earned $630,000 for his eighth PGA Tour victory.
The ACE Group Classic
Bobby Wadkins won The ACE Group Classic in Naples, Fla., for his fourth Champions Tour title, holing a 13-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke victory over Allen Doyle.
Wadkins, the brother of 2000 champion Lanny Wadkins, finished with a 15-under 201 total and earned $240,000. Doyle shot a 70.
Wadkins and Doyle, the 1999 champion, came into the final hole tied at 14- under. Doyle, who had led all day, hit a solid tee shot and put a layup shot in good position, 90 yards short of the green. Wadkins hit a 3-wood to try to get on the green, but was short and just right of the greenside bunker in the rough.
After laying up, Doyle didn’t hit a good pitch shot, pushing it to the right. He was 25 feet away. Doyle hit a good putt, but left it short.