There was certainly plenty of drama on a busy weekend around the golf world with a pair of surprise wins on both the PGA and European Tour with the RSM Classic and DP World Tour Championship taking place. Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour delivered its own surprises in the final tournament of the season in the CME Group World Tour Championship while a young golfer earned the biggest prize with LPGA Player of the Year honors. Here is a recap of the events from around the golf world this past week.
RSM Classic
PGA Tour
After a wild and unpredictable tournament that was loaded with drama, 18-year-old rookie Mackenzie Hughes delivered the most memorable moment of his young career when he sank an 18-foot par putt from off the green to win the RSM Classic in a playoff. The Canadian became the first rookie in 20 years to go wire-to-wire for his first PGA Tour victory and it provided some excellent theatre for those cheering him on. The 42-degree temperature at Sea Island presented another obstacle but Hughes remained calm and collected throughout the tournament and never appeared rattled. Camilo Villegas, Henrik Norlander and Blayne Barber each missed par putts from 10 feet or closer on the third playoff hole and that opened the door for Hughes to clinch his first-career win on the golf tour.
The PGA Tour will resume on December 2nd with the Hero World Challenge from The Bahamas.
Top 10 Scores From The RSM Classic
Mackenzie Hughes -17
Camilo Villegas -17
Henrik Norlander -17
Blayne Barber -17
Billy Horschel -17
Jamie Lovemark -14
Jim Furyk -14
Ollie Schniederjans -14
Cheng Tsung Pan -14
Russell Henley -13
DP World Tour Championship, Dubai
European Tour
Matthew Fitzpatrick delivered a memorable comeback victory when he fought back on the final hole to clinch the win at the DP World Tour Championship. The 22-year-old got up and down from the bunker on the 18th and once Tyrrell Hatton sank his ball in to the water the door was open for Fitzpatrick to finish it off. In the end, Fitzpatrick finished with a 67 to edge out Hatton, who shot a 68 by a single stroke. Former masters champion Charl Schwartzel also shot a 67 in the final round to finish in third place at 14-under, three strokes back of Fizpatrick.
It was a disappointing week for the favorite heading into this event as a lot of people had him pegged to win it. Rory McIlroy – one of the big four – took part in the tournament and was expected to come away victorious. He was the betting favorite in Las Vegas and he was the fantasy favorite at DraftKings and FanDuel. Even so, he was only able to finish in a tie for ninth with a -12. While that’s not bad, it’s not what most people had expected of him.
Meanwhile, Henrik Stenson finished tied for ninth at 12-under, which was good enough to wrap up the other big prize on Sunday in the season-long Race to Dubai. The European Tour will continue this week with the World Cup of Golf from Melbourne, Australia.
Top 10 Scores From The DP World Tour Championship, Dubai
Matthew Fitzpatrick -17
Tyrrell Hatton -16
Charl Schwartzel -14
Nicolas Colsaerts -13
Victor Dubuisson -13
Soren Kjeldsen -13
Francesco Molinari -13
Bernd Wiesberger -13
Jorge Campillo -12
Tommy Fleetwood -12
Rory McIlroy -12
Henrik Stenson -12
CME Group Tour Championship
LPGA Tour
Charley Hull won the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship with a two-shot swing at the 17th on Sunday as she shot a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 to beat out Ryu So-Yeon. Hull finished at 19-under for the tournament, which was two strokes better than Ryu. Hull took home the $500,000 top prize while Ariya Jutanugarn was the other big winner as she clinched a million dollar bonus and the Player of the Year award. Jutanugarn shot a 69 in her final round of the season to finish fourth at 14-under-par. Meanwhile, Lydia Ko posted a 72 in the final round and she finished tied for 10th at 11-under-par in the final event of the LPGA Tour season. The ladies golf season will pick back up in 2017.
Top 10 Scores From The CME Group Tour Championship
Charley Hull -19
So Yeon Ryu -17
Jennifer Song -15
Mo Martin -14
Beatriz Recari -14
Ariya Jutanugarn -14
In Gee Chun -13
Shanshan Feng -12
Amy Yang -12
Lydia Ko -11
Brittany Lincicome -11
