Patrick Reed rallied to play his last four holes in three under par before making another birdie on the first playoff hole to capture the Hyundai Champion of Champions title ahead of Jimmy Walker.
Reed’s final round 67 meant he grabbed the headlines for the Hawaiian trip despite strong challenges from his own forehead, and a pair of scorching 62’s shot in the final round. His forehead initially stole the show after images emerged of him without his cap on, revealing an extremely pale brow (check Google images) that raised plenty of eyebrows amongst Twitter uses. But golfers also contributed; Jason Day and Chris Kirk fired 11-under final rounds that tied the course record. Kirk’s round propelled him from last place to a tie for 14th.
Despite the excitement all around the golf course, and the obvious burning his skin was enduring, Reed managed to charge back from four behind with four to play to win for the first time since the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Dora. It’s a fourth PGA Tour win for the 24-year old who once proclaimed he was one of the top 5 players in the game. The win might help justify the tag considering it was against pretty good opposition who had all experienced the winners circle in the past season.
The closest challenger throughout the final round was Jimmy Walker (69). Walker held the lead for much of the final day, and regrettably expressed afterwards that the tournament “was there for me to win, it was a bummer I didn’t close the door on it.”
Before Reed’s heroics down 16 and 18, Walker held the ascendancy. A position he also maintained during the playoff as Reed struggled to get near the green in two. He would find rough however, and never even get to putt for par as Reed drained an 18ft birdie putt to clinch it.
Walker will look to holes 10 and 14 as the root cause of his second place. He failed to birdie 10 and made a first bogey for 33 holes on the short 14th. Those two holes, and Reed’s hole out on 16 were the key turning points.
Jason Day (62), Russell Henley (67) and Hideki Matsuyama (70) all mounted challenges at various times but couldn’t quite get themselves into the playoff. They will receive FedEx Cup points as consolation, which in Day’s case skyrockets him up 160 places in the standings.
Of the players who featured heavily at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions several have seen their odds to win the money list at BetEasy improve. Notably:
Jason Day – $26.00
Patrick Reed – $67.00
Chris Kirk – $67.00
Hideki Matsuyama – $67.00
Jimmy Walker – $51.00
