DORAL, Fla. — Patrick Reed felt he belongs among the best in the world. He beat them all Sunday in the Cadillac Championship.
DORAL, Fla. — Patrick Reed felt he belongs among the best in the world. He beat them all Sunday in the Cadillac Championship.
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 new Blue Monster at Doral.
Equipped with a two-shot lead, the 23-year-old Texan wisely 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. In his own ranking, he feels he belongs in the top five.
He cited an amateur career that includes going 6-0 in matches to lead Augusta State to two NCAA titles, followed by three PGA Tour wins in seven months.
“I don’t see a lot of guys that have done that besides Tiger Woods and the legends of the game,” Reed said. “I believe in myself, especially with how hard I’ve worked. I’m one of the top five players in the world. I feel like I’ve proven myself.”
He joined some exclusive company. Since 1990, only Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia had three PGA Tour wins before turning 24.
This was not an accident, either.
Reed has had a share of the lead going into the final round of all three of his victories — the Wyndham Championship last August, the Humana Challenge in January and a World Golf Championship at Doral that featured the strongest field so far this year.
His last two wins were wire-to-wire, including ties.
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, finishing with par after blasting through the palms, into the grandstand and back into the rough.
Donaldson wasn’t so fortunate. He hit into a foot on the 17th for his third birdie on the back nine to get within one shot of the lead. From the 18th fairway — after watching Miguel Angel Jimenez go through the green and into the water — he blocked his approach away from the flag and into the back bunker. Donaldson blasted out to just inside 15 feet and missed the par putt. He closed with 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.
Dustin Johnson, who lost momentum around the turn, made double bogey on the 18th hole for a 72 and tied for fourth with Richard Sterne (71).
Woods went into the final round with a chance to win for the first time all year.
It didn’t last very long.
PUERTO RICO OPEN
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — Chesson Hadley won the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour victory, 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, a two-year tour exemption and spots in The Players Championship, PGA Championship and Tournament of Champions. He will move into the mid-60s in the world ranking, giving him a chance to get into the Masters if he can crack the top 50 at the end of the Texas Open.
Lee birdied three of the last four holes for a 68. The South Korean-born New Zealander won the 2008 U.S. Amateur and also has European and Web.com victories.
Ben Martin shot a 66 to finish third at 17 under.
CHILE CLASSIC
SANTIAGO, Chile — Canada’s Adam Hadwin won the Chile Classic for first Web.com Tour title, birdieing the final two holes for a one-stroke victory over Australia’s Alistair Presnell.
Hadwin shot a 3-under 69 at Prince of Wales Country Club for a 16-under 272 total. He earned $117,000.
Presnell eagled the par-5 18th for a 68.
South Korea’s Sung Joon Park, Sweden’s Henrik Norlander and American Kyle Reifers tied for third at 13 under. Park shot a 66, Norlander had a 69, and Reifers a 71.