Reed wins Cadillac tourney by stroke
Patrick Reed felt he belongs among the best in the world. He beat them all Sunday in the Cadillac Championship in Doral, Fla.
Dressed in a red shirt that he always wears in the final round – with Tiger Woods in the group ahead of him – Reed made back-to-back birdies early on the front nine to build a big lead and showed off a great short game when the pressure was building on the Blue Monster at Doral.
Equipped with a two-shot lead, the 23-year-old Texan played the final hole conservatively. He two-putted for bogey and closed with an even-par 72 for a one-shot victory over Bubba Watson and Jamie Donaldson of Wales.
Reed became the youngest winner of a World Golf Championship, his third win in his last 14 tournaments.
Woods, only three shots behind going into the final round in his best chance this year to win a tournament, said his back flared up after an awkward shot out of the bunker on the sixth hole. He failed to make a birdie in the final round for the first time in his PGA Tour career, and his 78 was his worst Sunday score ever.
Reed is expected to go to No. 20 in the world ranking. He joined some exclusive company. Since 1990, only Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia had three PGA Tour wins before turning 24.
Watson, who won at Riviera three weeks ago, went bogey-free over the final 27 holes, a strong performance on the overhauled Trump National Doral. He closed with a 68. Donaldson had a 70.
Reed finished at 4-under 284, matching the highest winning score at Doral. Mark McCumber won at 284 in 1985. Reed, Donaldson and Watson were the only players to finish under par.
PGA Tour
Chesson Hadley won the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour victory in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, holding off Danny Lee by two strokes in wind gusting to 25 mph.
Making his 13th PGA Tour start, the 26-year-old Hadley birdied the final two holes at Trump International for a 5-under 67. He’s the first rookie winner since Jordan Spieth in July in the John Deere Classic.
Hadley finished at 21-under 267 and earned $630,000 and a two-year tour exemption.
World Ladies
Top-ranked Inbee Park won the Ladies European Tour’s World Ladies Championship in Haikou,China, beating second-ranked Suzann Pettersen by five strokes.
Park, the South Korean star who won three majors and six overall titles last year on the LPGA Tour, closed with a 6-under 67 to finish at 24-under 268. Pettersen, from Norway, had a 72.