There was certainly plenty of drama again on the PGA Tour this past week with the CareerBuilder Challenge requiring a little overtime from The Club at PGA West in La Quinta, California where Jason Dufner managed to hold off a late rally for his first victory in more than two years. As we were doing our CareerBuilder Challenge recap, the first thing that popped out was the disappointment many chalk bettors felt this week. From a betting perspective, a lot of wagering tickets were shredded on the disappointment of a number of golfers that were expected to win (according to the pre-tournament odds). Remember that Patrick Reed entered the even as a +905 favorite while Matt Kuchar was right behind him at +1550 along with Zach Johnson at +1650. Those were the only three golfers inside of 20/1 to win the event but looking back, Johnson missed the cut, Kuchar finished in a tie for 49th and Patrick Reed finished in a tie for 56th. There were a number of surprise finishers in the Top 10, including lesser-known names like Andrew Loupe, Luke List, Jamie Lovemark and Adam Hadwin. On that note, here is our CareerBuilder Challenge recap of how it all went down on the west coast this past weekend.
Tournament Recap
Dufner opened the final day with a two-shot lead but after a slow start, he watched David Lingmerth close the gap and ultimately force a playoff. Dufner didn’t lose his focus, though, and after a clutch par to stay alive on the first playoff hole, he watched Lingmerth’s approach on the 20th hole of the day land in the water. Lingmerth’s shot bounced right off a rock and found the drink. At that point, Dufner knew that the victory was his as long as he didn’t do anything stupid.
The win was Dufner’s first since the 2013 PGA Championship and the fourth of his career. Lingmerth provided the biggest challenge for Dufner but that wasn’t the only interesting storyline down the final stretch as a number of golfers surprised with strong final rounds to force their way up the leaderboard.
Biggest Surprise
Dufner was in fine form and his ability to rally for his first win since 2013 was a pleasant result but the biggest surprise was the performance of Phil Mickelson, who opened his 2016 season with a T-3 in the CareerBuilder Challenge. Mickelson followed up a 68 with a 65 and 66 in the second and third rounds and while he couldn’t rally in that fourth round to join Dufner and Lingmerth in the playoff he still matched Andrew Loupe and Kevin Na’s 68 to tie with them for third at 21-under to finish the tournament. The 45-year-old showed a lot of promise in his best finish since June and his play should be plenty of reason for optimism moving forward this year. Meanwhile, Canadian Adam Hadwin struggled in that fourth round when he shot a 72 but he had to be happy with his overall performance as he recorded a T-6 at 20-under for the tournament. Brian Harman also deserves honorable mention among the biggest surprises after he birdied seven holes in an eight-hold stretch before closing the final round with nine straight pars to shoot his way up the leaderboard to finish tied for 11th at 18-under.
Biggest Disappointment
Lingmerth has performed well at this event in the past and after another dominant run that included seven birdies to record a final-round 62 he had to be disappointed with the fact that he found the hazard on that last playoff hole. However, Lingmerth had to be happy with the fact that he was able to rally in the first place and that is something that several talented golfers failed to do despite their considerable ability. That includes Ryan Palmer, who appeared poised to make a run at Dufner before a terrible collapse on the final day. Palmer hit a double-bogey and three more bogeys to register a 1-over 73 in that final round and fall from legitimate contender to a tie for 17th as easily one of the biggest disappointments from this year’s CareerBuilder Challenge.
