Post by misternic on Mar 8, 2015 23:59:13 GMT -5
WGC Cadillac Championship – Doral
The south Florida air was warm this week, but not as warm as many of the collars of some of the game’s top players. Doral was a crucible for the TGCTours best, and some of the finest melted under the pressure. As the first WGC event, and the first full field cross tourney event we gained a glimpse into what it is going to take to be a major champion. One round of 58? Not enough. Big start, average finish? Nope. Start slow? Probably not. The weekend turned into a game of hot potato, and many stars were burned. Consider:
• Friday night Brionne Beaumont-Thomas went to bed with the lead in the biggest tournament so far. He had posted a solid 58-59 to sit atop with Michael Engleder. With the pressure cranked up, BBT went -14 under on the weekend… total!
• Michael Engleder had the lead with BBT heading to moving day, but had lost it by the 6th hole on Saturday, finishing 4 back with a 63 on Sunday.
• Brian Lemons went to sleep on Saturday night with a share of the lead, a lead he had lost 4 holes into Sunday. A frustrating day finished with Lemons 5 back after shooting 66 on Sunday.
• Ian Sweeney was tied for the lead with Lemons on Saturday night, but had his own issues on the back nine Sunday afternoon falling to 3rd.
• Steve Sloan got worse each round, posting 58 on Thursday and rounding it out on Sunday with a 66. Sloan started Sunday just two back of the leaders, and finished in a tie for 9th, 7 strokes back.
The benefactor of all this turbulence was Tom Humphries. Humphries started the week ranked 38th in the world, and his consistency brought him to the top of the heap this week. Tom shot a pedestrian 62 on Thursday, good for a tie for 14th. He followed it up with back to back 59’s and a very solid 60 on Sunday to hold off the late charges of Jeremy Blaylock and Andrew Kulchar. He finished at -48. Couple that with the struggles noted above and Humphries now holds the most prestigious title to date.
Jeremy Blaylock finished second outshooting Humphries over the last 3 rounds. But he could not make up for the 64 he shot on Thursday despite his great play. Sweeney, Kulchar and Engleder made up the top 5.
NOTES:
- Steve Sloan will be the biggest gainer of the week, finishing in the top 10, having started ranked 151st.
- WGR #1 Scott Doyley and #6 James Gemmill were both forced to withdraw from this week’s tournament.
- 11 players shot 58 or better this week. Winner Humphries best round was a 59.
- Austrian Alexander Salvator shot a course record 56 on Saturday en route to a tie for 12th.
- 8 of the top 16 finishers were from the European tour, including the winner.
- Jason Keppel was the top Web.com participant, finishing at 27 under in a tie for 75th.