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In a three-way playoff that included America ’s two top under-25 players, Jordan Spieth defeated Patrick Reed and 32-year-old Sean O’Hair to win his second career PGA Tour title at the Valspar Classic, just outside of Tampa .  Spieth began Sunday’s final round one stroke behind 54-leader Ryan Moore, and with Moore holing a 7 iron to eagle the par-4 6th, then adding back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th, it looked very much to be his day as he took a three-stroke lead into the final six holes.  But when bogeys at the 13th, 16th and 18th brought him home on eight-under-par 276, the door was left more than ajar for a wide range of challengers.  Narrowly missing the playoff was world number three Henrik St enson who, making his debut at Inn isbrook, birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th to reach nine under par, but was unable to birdie either closer when he desperately needed to.  Meanwhile Reed, who began the day four back, played a clutch final round, turning in 35 before reeling off birdies at the 11th, 12th and 15th to pull within one of the lead, then holing a difficult 30-footer birdie at the last to finish on 10 under.  O’Hair, who was the first round leader and began the day three back, also mounted a back nine charge, ticking off four birdies from holes 11-16 to reach 10 under, then logging a slick up-and-down at the 18th to match Reed.  This left matters up to Spieth who, after reaching 10 under with birdies at the 13th and 14th, managed fine up-and-downs of his own on the final three holes to join the playoff, then, after narrowly missing a 10-footer to win at the first extra hole, buried a 30-footer at the third to clinch the title..................Over a final round which begn with six players tied for the lead, George Coetzee managed to hold off a hard-charging Jacques Blaauw to win the Tshwane Open over the same Pretoria Country Club course that he grew up on.  Though England ’s David Horsey (a co-first-round leader), Spain ’s Adrian Otaegui (the second round leader) and Scotland ’s Craig Lee were among the six men atop Saturday’s board, things pretty well reverted to standard E Tour-in-South Africa form on Sunday as native players charged, and  only Lee remained in the thick of the battle among the visitors.  That Coetzee would be there at the end seemed likely for beyond playing on home turf, he was the highest-ranked South Africa n in the field and he began Sunday among the sixsome sitting on 201.  Blaauw, however, was rather another story, entering the finale five off the lead and without a Europe an Tour victory on his résumé.  But the three-time Sunshine Tour winner caught fire on Sunday when, after logging an early birdie at the 366-yard 2nd, he reeled off six birdies between the 6th and the 12th to drive his way to the top of the board.  With the trophy thus in his sites, Blaauw then closed with birdies at the 17th and the 514-yard par-4 18th to post a course record-tying 61 and finish on 13-under-par 267.  By this time, Coetzee had carded four birdies of his own through the layout’s easier mid-section and thus entered the homestretch also on 13 under.  But he would eventually separate himself by nearly driving the 361-yard 17th, then chipping within five feet to record the winning birdie and land his second career E Tour triumph..................Little more than a year removed from fracturing his elbow in three places in a serious auto accident, and two mont hs from failing to play his way through Australasian Tour Q School, 23-year-old Jordan Zunic birdied the 72nd hole to capture an improbable maiden victory at the New Zealand Open.  The win came in his fourth professional start and was made possible only by his Monday qualifying for the previous week’s New Zealand PGA Championship, then finishing among the top 10 to gain a last-second spot in the Open field.  He played solid golf all week, however, opening with rounds of 68-66 before a third round 66 (highlighted by a run of five birdies over six back nine holes) saw him into a tie for the 54-hole lead with Kristopher Mueck on 10-under-par 200.  Mueck would finish with a solid enough 69 (good for solo third), leaving the final battle to fall to Zunic and veteran David Bransdon who, after turning in 34, birdied seven of eight holes on the back nine before crucially bogeying the 18th.  This left him tied with Zunic, who promptly stuffed a 9 iron to two feet at the last, then tapped in to claim an emotional first professional title.

Posted on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 03:24AM by Registered CommenterDaniel | Comments Off