This past weekend in golf saw the first of the four prestigious world golf championship events take place in the young 2017-18 PGA Tour season. The game's top players traveled to Shanghai, China to play in the WGC-HSBC Champions event, which would see a familiar face take home the trophy. Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to play the Slime Darby LPGA Malaysia tournament.
Rose wins the WGC-HSBC Champions
Going into the final round of the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament the number one ranked player in the world, Dustin Johnson, held a commanding lead.
He was at -17 under par, six shots ahead of Brooks Koepka. Henrick Stenson was in solo third place at -10 under par, with Brain Harman and Justin Rose one shot behind him.
Johnson started the final round by making bogey on the first two holes, dropping him back to -15 under par. He would then make par on the next eight holes. However, Johnson would bogey three of the last six holes to shoot a -5 over par 77 for the day. He finished in a tie for second place at -12 under par with Koepka and Stenson.
Rose shot even par on the front nine, as he was still six shots back of Johnson going into the final stretch. He then made birdie on the 11th, 13th and 14th holes to surge to -12 under par. He then saved par on the 15th by sinking a 10-foot putt.
Rose then took the lead by making birdie on the 16th and added to it was another on the 17th. After starting the day eight shots behind Johnson, he shot a -5 under par 67 to finish at -14 under par.
For Rose, this was his eighth PGA Tour victory and the second time he has won a WGC event. The eight-shot deficit he overcame was tied for the third largest in PGA Tour history, only behind Stewart Cink in 2004 (nine-shots at Hilton Head) and Paul Lawrie in 1999 (ten-shots at the Open Championship).
Johnson matched a dubious record as the six-shot he blew matched the PGA Tour record, tying Greg Norman (1996 Masters) and Sergio Garcia (2005 Quail Hollow).
He overcame an EIGHT-shot deficit for his 8th win on the PGA TOUR! 🏆@JustinRose99 claims the WGC-HSBC Champions! #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/eo32mFc7OB
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 29, 2017
Kerr takes home the Slime Darby LPGA
Entering the last round of the Slime Darby LPGA Malaysia tournament Cristie Kerr, who won for the first time on the European Tour a few weeks ago, held a tenuous one-shot lead.
She was at -15 under par, with last year's defending champion Shanshan Feng at -14 under par. Sei Young Kim was in solo third place at -11 under par, with Stacy Lewis and Jacqui Concolino one-shot behind her.
On Sunday, both Concolino and Danielle Kang both came roaring up the leaderboard as they shot -4 under par and -5 under par respectively to finish at -14 under par. Meanwhile, Feng had made two bogeys on the day before making birdie on the 16th and 17th to get to -14 under par. Kerr had just bogeyed the 17th hole to drop to -14 under par.
Feng made par on the final hole but Kerr proceeded to drain a 35-foot birdie putt to win the tournament. This victory gives Kerr her 20th career victory in her 20th year playing on the LPGA Tour. She is only the 27th player in LPGA history to win at least 20 events. She is also the first player 40 or older to win an event since Catriona Matthew at the 2011 Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
