Jones pulls upset, Kuchar's certain win disappears
Photo By Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle
Matt Jones locked up his first Masters berth, his first PGA Tour championship and his first million-dollar payday by holing out from 42 yards away on the first playoff hole Sunday to snatch a seeming certrian victory in the Shell Houston Open from the grasp of a stunned Matt Kuchar.
In the final hole of regulation, the Australian Jones had holed out from 46 feet - he just short of the green - to close with a 66, the day's second best round. Kuchar, who held a three-shot lead on the field through 54 holes, had to salvage a bogey at 18 after finding water on his second shot to prevent Jones, six swings back when the round began, from winning outright.
Jones still trailed by two strokes with two holes to play. Now, he's scrambling to find lodging in Augusta, where the Masters begins Thursday.
Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy delivered the low round with his 65, cementing his status as the Masters' betting favorite this week with Tiger Woods a scratch.
McIlroy, who was 1-under through the first 54 holes, managed four birdies on the back nine despite worsening conditions at the Golf Club of Houston to finish at 280, 8-under for the tournament, likely locking up his fourth top-10 finish of the PGA Tour season.
The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland, who was the Tour's leading money winner in 2012, when he won his second major title at the PGA Championship is currently seventh in the World Golf Rankings.
Leaving Houston for Augusta, McIlroy said he 'couldn't be a better mood,' even if he never honed in on the SHO lead.
'I'm ecstatic . . . I'm confident. I'm positive. I'm happy with how this week went even though I didn't quite do what I wanted to do in terms of getting in contention. But I sort of made up for that with a nice 65. Even though there wasn't really any pressure on me . . . to just go out and sort of play well, it was nice to do it on a weekend.'
Post a Comment for "Jones pulls upset, Kuchar's certain win disappears"