The LPGA Tour took a week off ahead of the JTBC Founders Cup, so there’s nothing to report from the ladies in our weekly golf recap. However, there was no rest on the men’s side with some of the best on the PGA Tour playing the Valspar Championship while the European Tour continued with the True Thailand Classic. Although most people will be focused on the winners and losers of the two events this week, there was one fantastic, under-the-radar story that came out of the Valspar Championship. Little known golfer Lee McCoy earned an amateur exemption to play at the tournament but ended up finishing in fourth place and beating Jordan Spieth. McCoy only has $350 in his bank account and would have loved to collect the check of nearly $300,000. However, he wasn’t able to pick up the check as he’s still at the University of Georgia finishing things up as a senior. He’s still an elite prospect and should have a very bright future ahead of him. For now, this one will sting.
For us, it’s onwards and upwards in our weekly golf recap of the action from this past weekend.
Valspar Championship
PGA Tour
The Valspar Championship went down to the wire and then past it with Charl Schwartzel managing to edge out Bill Haas in a playoff. It was Schwartzel’s first win in the United States since he won the Masters in 2011 and it was an improbable one as well. Schwartzel looked out of it when he trailed by five strokes through 12 holes in the final round. Then he birdied on birdied on 13, 14 and 17 to close the gap and a bogey from Haas on 16 opened the door for a playoff. It wasn’t long after that when Schwartzel secured the victory with a tap-in part at the first extra hole to seal the win. For as impressive as Scwartzel’s rally was, one of the biggest stories of the day was the struggle of world No. 1 Jordan Spieth, who carded a 73 on Sunday to tie for 18th an even par. Spieth opened the tournament with a brutal 76, but had rallied back with a 68 on Friday and a 67 on Saturday to make himself relevant again heading in to the final round. Things fell apart for him after that and Spieth was outplayed by the 22-year-old amateur McCoy, who shot a 69 to finish tied for fourth at four-under. Ryan Moore was also in the mix, but failed to hit a birdie on his final 12 holes and finished third at five-under. Other notables included Canadian Graham DeLaet and Charles Howell III finishing tied for fifth at three-under. The next stop on the PGA Tour is the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week as the countdown to The Masters continues beginning on Thursday.
Top 5 Valspar Championship Scores
Charl Schwartzel -7
Bill Haas -7
Ryan Moore -5
Lee McCoy -4
Charles Howell III -3
True Thailand Classic
European Tour
Our golf recap of the EPGA this week starts off with a stunning comeback from hometown favorite Piya Swangarunporn, who nearly stole the show in the final round of the True Thailand Classic. Ultimately, it was Scott Hend that clinched the victory by just one shot with a 68 in the final round to finish at 18-under. The win came on the heels of a furious rally from Swangarunporn, who followed up a 72 in the third round by setting a course-record with a 63 in the final round to finish just one stroke back. Swangarunporn began the day six shots back, but erased that deficit with an eagle and six birdies on the first 14 holes, then hit another birdie on the 18th hole to put the pressure on the leader. However, Hend responded with birdies on 14 and 17, then three-put on 19 for his second-career European Tour title. Belgian Thomas Pieters finished third at 15-under while Peter Uihlein of the United States finished fourth at 14-under and Pelle Edberg of Sweden finished fifth at 13-under. The European Tour will continue this week with the Hero Indian Open from New Delhi, India.
Top 5 True Thailand Classic Scores
Scott Hend -18
Piya Swangarunporn -17
Thomas Pieters -15
Peter Uihlein -14
Pelle Edberg -13
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