Our golf recap is fairly straightforward this week as a couple of players that were expected to win ended up cashing in. Here’s a look at what happened on the links this past weekend as we dive into our golf recap:
PGA Tour
Our PGA Tour golf recap starts off with Jason Day, who regained the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings with a victory at the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play tournament on Sunday. Day came out on top in an epic head-to-head battle with Rory McIlroy in the semi-final on Sunday morning, then iced the victory with a win over Louis Oosthuizen. Day had already moved back in to the top spot in the rankings by the time that final round rolled around but it made it that much sweeter when he captured his second victory of 2016.
The 28-year-old Australian was coming off his first victory of the year after he narrowly edged out Kevin Chappell in last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational last Sunday. Day shot a 70 in the final round at Bay Hill to pull out the win but there were lingering concerns about his ability to even compete in the Dell Match Play this week. He was dealing with severe back pains after it had seized up on him on Thursday morning but he grinded it out early on and looked at his absolute best by the time that Sunday rolled around. Day pulled ahead with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-three fourth hole, then stretched his lead to 3 up at the turn. His power and short game was on full display the rest of the way and he closed out Oosthuizen with a 5-and-4 victory.
Day’s win was the largest margin in the championship match since Tiger Woods recorded an 8-and-7 over Stewart Cink in 2008 at Dove Mountain in a 36-hole match. He had already been assured of the No. 1 ranking in the world when Jordan Spieth lost on Saturday in the fourth round and Day won his quarterfinal match the same day. Oosthuizen was the one that knocked out Spieth but he was no match for Day by the time the final round of the Dell Match Play rolled around. Day joined Woods and Geoff Ogilvy as the only multiple winners of the Match Play with the victory.
Spieth’s struggles continued following a brutal couple of months. He hasn’t finished higher than 17th at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship since winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions back in January. Meanwhile, McIlroy gave Day all that he could handle in their dream semi-final matchup, which was only the second semi-final in the 18-year history of this event that the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds met. Day and McIlroy combined for 11 birdies and seven lead changes with the match turning on the 11th hole when Day nailed a 12-foot putt and McIlroy missed a six-foot birdie. Day was also fortunate to clear the water on the par-five 12th by just a foot to set up a two-foot birdie putt that gave him the lead for good. McIlroy has shown flashes of his ability leading up to The Masters but is still looking for that elusive victory. Meanwhile, Oosthuizen has shown a steady improvement throughout 2016 including a seventh-place finish at the Valspar Championship and his runner-up finish at the Dell Match Play. All of this has set the stage for plenty of intrigue heading in to biggest event of the year so far with The Masters set to begin on April 7th.
LPGA Tour
On the LPGA Tour, our golf recap begins and ends with the star of the show. Lydia Ko captured the Kia Classic at Aviara. She’s been considered the top player on the ladies side for more than a year, but she hadn’t won yet in 2016. This win marks her first major championship of the 2016 season.
It was a bit of a close race in this one but Ko got hot down the stretch to pull away. Ko ended up birdying the final three holes to finish the round with a five-under 67. That was her third straight 67 and resulted in a four-stroke victory for her.
Inbee Park finished in second place with a 67 in the final round as well. Japan’s Ai Miyazato placed in third with a -13.
Want to give your comments about this article? You can either leave them here or you can join us on the Get More Sports Forum and talk about this article and many more! Brag about your favorite team, argue about an athlete’s performance or tell us about a game you saw. Join a new community of sports fans who live and breathe sports and sports entertainment. It’s free! Join now!
